Solly's Souvenirs reopens on Lake Street after two-year hiatus

After a two-year closure following the Covid pandemic, a former, Solly’s Souvenirs manager has realised her dream to re-open the popular store in the heart of the CBD.

Solly's Souvenir’s employee Jules Linklater assisting customer Maria Sharp with her purchase at the newly reopened Solly's Souvenirs store on Lake Street. Picture: Nuno Avendano.

After a 16-year stint in the city and a two-year hiatus, Solly’s Souvenirs has returned to the Cairns CBD, with tourists and locals already flooding in to snap up cheap deals.

For owner Amy Lorkian, who worked at Solly’s Souvenirs for 10 years and Silly Solly’s Group for 20, reopening the Lake Street store on Wednesday was a dream come true.

“I was always dreaming that to reopen this shop,” Ms Lee said.

“I’ve been working at the Night Markets, and the tourists keep coming and coming. They kept asking me if we sell this and that. When I was working here (Solly’s), we used to have all the things they’re looking for, but the Night Markets is way smaller and I can’t get them.”

After two years of disuse, with manager Steve Watchman closing the doors in 2022 due to the Covid pandemic, Ms Lee and her partner Ben Lorkian went to their landlord and, after a few negotiations, got permission to re-open the popular shop.

Solly’s Souvenirs employee Jules Linklater assisting customer Maria Sharp with her purchase at the newly reopened Solly’s Souvenirs store on Lake Street. Picture: Nuno Avendano.

Mr Lorkian said opening the doors to the store was like dusting off an old fridge.

“It hadn’t been opened for two years so it was like opening an old fridge or something and we had to clean it out and air it out,” Mr Lorkian said.

Mr Lorkian, a former pastry chef of 27 years, said he was excited to see tourists walking through the doors.

“Everyone missed the store so much, especially having a discount store in the middle of the city, so because Amy’s had experience for 20 years at Silly Solly’s (Group), we thought we’d open it back up and we got the deal with the landlord to open the doors,” Mr Lorkian said.

“It’s good to have it open again and so many people are happy. We’re still setting up. Pallets are coming in all the time. We’ve got stock to come and shelves to fill and stuff still coming.”

Their best selling item so far, has been the Cairns tourist shirts.

“souvenirs and T-shirts is up there. Everything is popular. The tourists come in and buy the barbecue stuff because it’s so cheap and they don’t want to spend a fortune. So they can come in and spend $20 and they’ve got everything they need,” he said.

Originally published as Solly's Souvenirs reopens on Lake Street after two-year hiatus