Professionals Tamborine Mountain 
Today, a familiar face returns to the site— Michelle Roper-Dennis, previously having been featured in the article on her Tamborine Mountain business Lux and Gather. But Michelle is nothing if not an entrepreneur, and out in Canungra she has another business My Country Escape, which she’s here to share with us again today.
by Kyle Hitchmough
Can you describe what My Country Escape is for those who may not know?
My Country Escape is a lux boutique giftware store. You can come into the store and purchase a number of different homewares, beautiful linens, bedspreads, clothing, candles, body fragrances, knick-knacks for the home… anything that’s a little bit different and boutique.
You have a decent range of fashion options; can you tell us more about that?
The brands that we carry, we’ve only really got about six that we really stay true to. We’ve got the Holiday collection, which has Brave + True, Shanty, Holiday, Talisman, and then we have another brand called Humidity, we have Elm Clothing, and a couple of linen ranges. The clothing is high-end, we have to order it a year in advance, and we only have limited runs, so you’re not going to see everybody walking down the street with the same shirt on. We get very small runs of everything so it’s a bit more exclusive.
What about the skin care and body products you sell?
We’re a signature store for Main Beach, and they have four or five different scents through their range, they have candles and lotions and body washes. We’re also a signature store for Ecoya, which is a candle range. They’re both wholly Australian and New Zealand owned. We also do the Camel Farms body products, which are absolutely stunning. We’re very proud of our body lotions and creams in the store.
And you also sell homeware?
We do small furniture pieces, cushions, throws, lots of little bits and pieces for the kitchen, baskets, mats, anything that’s got a little bit of an edge and is a little bit different.
Can you tell us about the recent renovations to the store?
We’ve literally had the whole store gutted. We’ve now got new shelving throughout the building and a deck out the back, we have wheelchair access out the back … the store has come up beautifully. When we relaunched the shop in late March, we brought in a whole lot of new brands. The existing brands that have done well we’ve kept, and we’ve added to the store.
You’re quite active in the local community and working with charity initiatives here. What kinds of things do you do?
For the whole month of October, the town raises money to turn Canungra pink. Half the money stays in town to support locals with cancer, and half the money goes towards the Cancer Council. We try and support that every year. Our main charity for the store is Bravehearts, and we have a tin and a tap machine on our counter. Every time someone asks for something to be gift-wrapped, we ask a gold coin donation. We also do other charity events during the year. We’re about to start doing different type of evenings and classes in the store where a local charity will get a donation on that night.
Are there any particular trends in your clientele?
We are really lucky that we have a massive community following in the Canungra surrounds, but this store tends to pick up a few more tourists. Canungra is growing at a rapid rate, but it’s the excitement as well to see the store growing. When we’re buying and looking for new stock, we always think of our local customers first, that’s where our focus lies.
What’s your opinion on the Canungra area and community?
I can honestly say I’ve felt 100% supported by the community. We’ve seen droughts, floods, fires… a real rollercoaster ride over the last 3 or 4 years. It’s got those old-fashioned values. Even though the community’s growing, it still has a real heart and you can feel it. When something happens in town, people come in to check you’re alright. It’s just a fantastic little community.
What’s your favourite thing to do in Canungra?
Somebody asked me recently where I go for coffee, and to be honest I do a loop around the town every week! I have a coffee one day from Café Metz, one day from OWL Wholefoods, the Bean-In, the Hub, Ginja Ninja… We are absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes to amazing coffee and food. It’s so difficult to diet because the food is really good everywhere you go.
What do you think My Country Escape really provides to the area?
I think it’s more than a gift store or a boutique. We’ve created a place where people can just come and feel comfortable. You can go in and you don’t feel the need to buy, that you can just come and relax. One of our by-lines is “Come in, relax, browse, stay for a while”. I think that’s really true, and I find that we have a lot of ladies just coming in for a chat and we love that. We’re never too busy for a chat. We’ve always got time for our local customers, to make sure someone’s okay and having a good day, which is really important for us.
What do you enjoy most about working at My Country Escape?
The My Country Escape family we’ve created. I might be the boss but those girls have become part of my family. I come into work some mornings and someone’s made bread, or brought in something from their garden, or dinner left over from last night… We share those things and it’s just a beautiful place to be.
What’s been your most memorable moment from your time here?
In March, when we had our opening, just being totally overwhelmed by the community’s support, having over 250 people turn up for what we thought was going to be a very small, personal grand re-opening turned into a huge affair which we felt very humbled by.
We are always looking for new topics for our blog. If there’s something you like to see more of, email your suggestions to: social@professionalsserendipity.com.au, or email the writer at kyle.hitchmough@hotmail.com.
