IT’S only by chance that Leongatha institution for the past 34 years, Judy Stone’s Influence Clothing, ever happened at all.
While Judy contemplates hanging her last item of stylish, contemporary women’s fashion on the rack at the rear of 32-34 Bair Street, she recalls how it all came to be.
“It’s been 34 years,” said Judy this week, as if realising for the first time that she’s devoted a lifetime to her customers in retail.
“I was just coming off the farm and thinking about trying to get some part-time work back in town at the pharmacy again when I ran into Corrie Allen.
“She’d only just open her shop a month earlier and decided it wasn’t for her.
“She asked if I was interested in taking it on and here I am.”
The women’s fashion and casual clothing store has been a godsend for generations of local women, many of them who have started and ended their search for something just right for a special occasion or simply to provide a boost to their daily lives at Judy’s.
“That was just perfect thanks Judy and all the best for your retirement,” was a familiar refrain as Judy attended to customers while handling an interview for the local paper.
“The customers, many of them friends now, have been fantastically loyal over the time. People from Mornington Peninsula, Melbourne, Yarram, Warragul and everywhere in South Gippsland and Bass Coast all over.
“And of course my staff. They’ve really backed me all the way. Marion Pollock on a Saturday, and I’ve got Debbie (Howard) and Kim Cullin as well now but there’s only been a handful of others.
“Luckily, I’ve always had some great friends to call on as the need arose.”
And Judy’s commitment hasn’t only been in the shop during business hours.
Judy and her band of supporters have staged dozens of fundraising fashion parades for football netball clubs and others while also supporting the ‘Fashions on the Field’ at the Stony Creek Cup for more than 20 years.
“It’s been a lot of work but I’ve loved doing it,” she said saying the time had finally come to call it a day.
“We got through COVID and everyone was so supportive there too but I’ve got to say the cost-of-living is really starting to bite. You can really feel it in retail.”
No doubt, online shopping has also been an issue, but Influence Clothing has been able to weather that storm with great clothing selection and a wealth of choice.
Judy has been a South Gippsland resident he whole life, daughter of the dairy farming Perrett family of Kongwak, attending the Kongwak Primary School and then the Korumburra High School before getting her first job at the Smiths Pharmacy in the town.
“I thought I was going back into that again after I came off the beef farm but here we are!
“We’ll be finishing up here at the end of January.”
The farewells have already started but there’s still plenty to be done between now and then but if you’re looking for something special over the holiday season, you’re likely to snare yourself a bargain with some generous discounts through to the end.
“All stock must go, as they say,” said Judy.