Apr 11, 2012

From online to bricks and mortar: The local gift business bucking the online trendBy Rocheen FlahertyDynamicBusiness.com.au

While many businesses are shifting focus away from traditional retail and onto the online marketplace, Brisbane-based gift and homewares store Dandelyon is doing the opposite.

The idea of Dandelyon Gifts came to Julie Dodge in a dream about an angel handing her a dandelion in July 2010. It sparked her husband Greg Dodge to register the business the very next day, and the pair eagerly embraced the online marketplace and spent the next three months creating an eStore that featured over a thousand gift and homeware products. When they realised that the venture wasn’t supporting them financially, they decided to branch out and hold stalls at local markets to attract more customers.

“We realised when people saw the product they wanted to buy it, even though we were using that as a vehicle to drive more people to the site. We quickly realised we were going to have to get into traditional retail,” Greg Dodge told Dynamic Business.

Greg and Julie then deliberated over where they would set up their retail store, eventually deciding on the West End in Brisbane. Greg, who has a background in retail, attributes the careful choice of location to the success of Dandelyon Gift’s physical store.

“A lot of it had to do with finding somewhere that was eclectic and diverse, that had a range of international visitors, as well as locals who support independent visitors. We realised we could go there and be unique and people would support that,” he said.

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