Sally Anderson, Owner of Niche interiors

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Resident of Yarraville

I opened on the Christmas of 2000. My sister Meagan and her husband Steve had purchased the building with the intention of me opening the shop here. My maternal grandma Nell, had grown up in Kingsville and knew of my intentions to open a shop.

That year, she gave me a small amount of money towards the shop. I was very close to Nell and remember bringing her around the village for coffee at Java by the sun. She used to tell stories of riding her bike around Yarraville and all the changes since then. In January 2001, Nell passed away. We celebrated her last Christmas in the shop so she was happy to see its opening.

I grew up in Hoppers Crossing and moved to Ballarat to study Visual Arts, majoring in Ceramics. Here’s something few people know about me – I used to be a potter. I moved to Williamstown for a few years, before ending up working at Sneddons. I have been lucky enough to follow opportunities that came my way.

Both my parents’ families grew up in the Inner West but never knew each other. On my dad’s side, my uncle Peter and his wife Lola are stalwarts of Cruickshank Park for many decades. One of my best friends Lisa grew up a few doors up from them so we have had a 40-plus year friendship! We enjoy the park and what it offers now as a result of their tireless campaigning. They have also recently been featured in ‘We Are West’, a mini-documentary capturing the characters and history of the Inner West.

The shop used to be Beryl’s Hair Health and Wellbeing, so it was an old-school hairdresser with the traditional dome-shaped hairdryer and furniture.

I remember saying to Meagan “That would make a good studio.” I have to thank Meagan and her husband Steve for their blind faith in me. Steve did a lot of the work and muscle here, renovating the space while Meagan and looked I worked together on the fit out.

The business had initially started out as a consulting service/studio while the retail/shop was always an add-on. Over the years, I began procuring more furniture, homewares and fashion. More recently, I’ve gotten a little good crazy over the fashion side of things, but it’s probably just because I love fashion, so its now integrated in with the homewares.

Fashion does follow the homeware trends and vice versa. There’s a good link between them, especially in terms of colour and fabric, so it was fairly natural to cross over.

I love where I work and am lucky enough to live above the shop. It’s a close commute to work! A lot of my close friends are people I have met from the shop. One of the first local friends was Denise. She dropped in with one of her boys in a pram when I was having a garage sale, before opening the shop. 17 years on I recently attended one of her sons 21st birthday party.

My Dad Jeff growing up in the village used to swing on the railway gates with Barry Sneddon (founder of Sneddons). Their family is very close to our family. More recently I helped Barry’s daughter and my great friend, Susie Sneddon with the refurbishment of the Railway Hotel Yarraville.

A couple of years ago, I bought a beach house in Fairhaven. It’s nice not to have something that’s not in Yarraville. It’s a big thing for me to be away from here. So much of my family history and friends are tied to the Inner West!

I’m pretty much ready for a Christmas break. I like the push, but I’m like “Most people get to have long service leave after 17 years of service, but I don’t get any!” I’ll be taking most of January off and be at the beach in Fairhaven. Mum lives nearby as well, so it’s a plus.

A lot of our business is foot traffic. It’s a bit of a destination as it’s not on the main street of Yarraville. With social media, it’s a lot easier to get the word out about where we are so it’s easier for people to find us.

I like going into town in my free time and find markets such as Finders Keepers and Melbourne Ceramics Market. I love fashion and shopping which I pretend it’s research for the shop. Sometimes I find new suppliers; a lot of what I do is similar to my work as I enjoy working.

I go to Byron Bay a fair bit as there’s a lot of bohemian-style fashion there, which Melburnians love. A few of our stockists are up there, so it’s a good excuse to go up there and ‘work’.

It’s a good set up the shop currently has. My younger sister Mel comes in over the weekends and is an asset to the shop. It’s a nice change for her as she’s a doula, a teacher and also a mother to two little kids. I also have my niece Asha who works here. She loves coming here as she has grown up while visiting the shop.

Just this year I was involved in the Boho Luxe Market in Federation Square. It’s all about bringing the Byron Bay vibe to Melbourne. We are doing a Christmas market and a big new event at the Old Exhibition Building in February next year.

My Dad was a lover of everything Yarraville and its history. He would always start a story with “Growing up in Yarraville…” and tell stories about going to the Sun Theatre as a little boy. He would be amazed by the changes, and up until quite recently would come in with Mum to the theatre and reminisce about what it used to be like when he was young.

He was very much a western suburbs person, and a mad Western Bulldogs fan. I’m a Bulldogs fan myself; people don’t put that connection with me but I go to the footy through winter. Before Dad passed away, we got to go to the Grand Final. It was such a great day for us and many other locals.

Perhaps that is why when you asked to profile me, I said yes to sharing my story as Dad would have loved it. This story is a tribute to him.

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