STORY BY MAHMOOD FAZAL, PHOTOS BY CHRIS TURNER

Woodend General is nestled in the heart of the Macedon Ranges. It’s a retail store forged from a dream by sisters Louise and Angela Pannel, who spent their childhood “playing shops.”

Louise remembers the journey out from Melbourne to the picturesque Macedon Ranges, “[My sister] Angela just happened to move to Castlemaine, maybe six or seven years ago. Then we ended up moving to Woodend in 2016,” explains Louise. “We have two young children and I guess, like a lot of people, just wanted to have space, air and room to move. A quieter life.”

Louise was living in Woodend for a few years before she began to notice something missing from the town. There was a high influx of people passing through Woodend and she thought about opening a lifestyle store with her sister Angela, carefully curated with a strong focus on high quality, functional and ethically made goods for the Home, Garden and Family.

Louise began to lean on her background in visual merchandising, “It's a good marriage between commercial and creativity, which is what I always enjoyed about it.”

The key to a great retail setting is steeped in ambience; a country contemporary flair is carefully weaved into the atmosphere of Woodend General.

“You can obviously buy all the products and put them in a space, but it's about the look and the feel and that environment that you're creating,” says Louise. She tries to infuse the decor with the seasonal pace of the region. “You need an eye for detail. And you've got to be a great stylist with an understanding of the commercial side of running a business.”

On the wall there’s a digging spade by Burgon & Ball from Sheffield in the UK, pink slippers by Kip & Co, and Turkish bath sheets by Miss April.

“At the moment I really love Bonnie & Neil from Melbourne - they’re textile designers,” says Louise. “They create beautiful textile products but they also have some wonderful ceramic glass vases and coloured glassware.”

Louise and Angela take pride in stocking local artists and creatives on their shelves. Louise adds, “Memosa Botanicals is a friend of Ange’s based in Castlemaine, we stock their bath salts, essential oil blends and oil burners.”

All the items in the story are best punctuated as a gift. The essence of Woodend General is founded on the meaning of gift-giving. Louise explains, “We wanted a space that was for people who could come and find a gift for everyone; baby gifts or gift for dad or your partner or whoever.”

“Gift giving is the giving of joy. It doesn’t matter if you’re giving someone a $39 packet of incense or you’re giving someone a really expensive beautiful vase, it’s about that beautiful feeling of joy you want to impart on them,” she says.

“You want to give them something that you love or that you think they will love and you want to bring them happiness and I think that's really beautiful.”

Woodend General

shop@woodendgeneral.com.au

woodendgeneral.com.au

84-88 High Street, Woodend