Port Fairy will welcome a new surf shop in a fortnight.
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Owners Davina Luhrs, daughter Regan Luhrs and her partner Daniel Tregeagle are adding the finishing touches to their Sackville Street outlet which is set to open September 21.
The Passage will be a retail store stocking surf, street and lifestyle apparel.
Named after the port town’s popular surf location, the 70 square metre space will open in the former post office on the corner of Sackville and Cox Streets.
The store will focus predominantly on mens and teens clothing stocking popular labels such as Hurley, Rusty, Afends, Mossimo, Kiss Chasey, and Academy.
In moving their three sons Ollie, Joey and Albie and parents from the family’s sheep farm in Hamilton, 32 year-old Regan Luhrs said a sea-change had always been inevitable.
“My auntie had a house here in Port Fairy so we used to frequently holiday here when I was a little child,” she said.
“Then in the teens we’d stay at the caravan park and 10 years ago we bought a permanent van at the Gardens. We’d be here all the time. Even in winter we’d escape the Hamilton cold to come to the Port Fairy cold but there was always something happening here, there was always a good vibe down here and we loved it.
Miss Luhrs said it was after returning from a visit to the port town in January that she floated the idea of a retail surf shop with partner Daniel.
“Soon after we secured the shop lease, convinced mum and dad to retire here, purchased the house and bam we’re here,” said the former veterinary nurse.
“It’s so, so different,” she said. “I can sell dog and cat treatments but clothing will be something different but I think I’ll be okay. I’ve done enough shopping in my time to pick up what people do.”
The pair hope the name for the premises fits the town’s culture.
“That was Daniel’s idea,” she said. “Because we’re in a heritage building we wanted to have something that connected to Port Fairy.
“When we were thinking surf we thought of the name Southwest Passage, that’s where everyone surfs here and it just got shortened to The Passage Port Fairy.
“It seemed to fit. I don’t know what the surfers think but I hope they like it.”
Miss Luhrs said the store would have an environmental focus, committing to no plastics and installing reclaimed timber from the family’s circa 1939 farm.
Miss Luhrs admits she’s nervous about the challenge.
“It’s odd after being in the one community for 33 years and all of a sudden moving and starting something somewhere new. I’m quite daunted by that actually, but it’s a great place to live.”