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Scott and Roberston are both mothers, and this is something they say has given them vision and direction for the store.<\/p>\n
For Robertson, she hopes helping reducing plastic usage in her household will mean her six-year-old son Charlie gets to grow up where single-use plastics aren’t thought of as the norm.<\/p>\n
For Scott, she wants her daughter Leila to have access to chemical-free products.<\/p>\n
Both Scott and Robertson said at Natural Supply Co family comes first.<\/p>\n
“It’s really important for us that our business reflects out lifestyle and it doesn’t cause any more stress than it needs to and we make it family friendly so that it works for us,” Robertson said.<\/p>\n
“And also for the girls working for us \u2013 we’re all young mums, we’re open 10 to 3 so we can all do school drop offs and pick-ups.”<\/p>\n
In June 2020, the pair decided to move the online store into a shop.<\/p>\n
“It was still running out of Celeste’s garage at this stage and very much a home-based small business,” Scott said.<\/p>\n
“At that point we had already outgrown Celeste’s garage, and we were tripping over boxes and we decided we just had to take the plunge.”<\/p>\n
The pair said while opening the shop in the middle of 2020 was a huge risk and presented many challenges, it has been the highlight of the Natural Supply Co journey so far.<\/p>\n
“For me as well it’s been so nice removing the business from my house and having that separation between work and family.” Robertson said.<\/p>\n
“Not two years into having a shop front it’s been the best thing we’ve ever done, because really it increased our business so much more than we thought it would.<\/p>\n
“It was a bit of a challenging time, because when we opened it was in between lockdown one and two so we obviously didn’t know the scale of what was to come, but we were so lucky because that we had been online for a good six years so we already had that really loyal customer base, which is what helped us stay alive, really.”<\/p>\n
Since opening the store, Scott and Robertson said they had built invaluable relationships with the community.<\/p>\n
“Something that we’ve really loved as well is getting to know the rest of the community and meeting all these people who are as interesting in sustainability as we are,” Scott said.<\/p>\n
“There are a lot of people who prefer not to shop online and want to have a chat and ask questions and touch and feel.<\/p>\n
“It’s really helped us grow the business and also connect with people, because being just online you don’t get that face-to-face contact.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The pair noted another highlight had been working with their employees since opening the store, all of whom are mothers.<\/p>\n “It’s not intentional, everyone we’ve hired has been a customer, and we most of our customers tend to be women, so it just worked out that way,” Robertson said.<\/p>\n “Because we have over 150 products now, to try and hire someone who doesn’t use the products or life the lifestyle, the amount of training that would be needed would be too much, and if you don’t already use plastic free and chemical free products it’s hard to explain why you should use that.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Having hired previous customers, all with so much in common, the pair said all the team gets along wonderfully.<\/p>\n “It’s like working with friends really, it’s a small shop and we know about each other’s lives. We always talk about it as our natural supply co family, and that’s what it feels like.”<\/p>\n But the pair are not opposed to having men come on board.<\/p>\n “My husband comes in on Fridays and does some cleaning, and brings coffee and croissant,” Robertson said.<\/p>\n “He does the things we’re sick of doing, taking out the rubbish and recycling.”<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/01\/weirdly-sized-image-2023-01-11T155739.785-600x380.png?_t=1673413166\")
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