Pictured: Tennyson Andrew at Junior Tuckshop in Malvern.
Thinking of starting or expanding a business in Stonnington? Our team can assist with the Business Concierge Service – designed to help you with the permits and registrations needed.
More than 1,000 businesses since we launched it last year, for the winter edition of Stonnington News we spoke to two local enterprises about how it helped shape their journey.
Junior
Local café entity owner Tennyson Andrew has a lot to say about being a local, supporting local ideas and working locally. He sheds some light on creating a local legend – tuckshop-style café, with true community aspirations at its core.
“Like any business that I get involved with, Junior is all about community… bringing people together and sharing a vision; feeding off what the local community is needing and responding to it.
“If you want a community to support you and your vision, you need to listen to what they want and need. What makes us different? We listen and we care about what we are doing and who we are doing it for.
“It is no small challenge getting a new business up and running… it’s tough! Any assistance in clearing the red tape and simplifying such a mountainous process is where we as a society need to be heading. The Business Concierge Service is most definitely in keeping with this trajectory and I encourage it. Stand alongside of the business community, not in front of it.
“I didn’t choose Stonnington but I chose the location of my business… Stonnington just happened to be the governing municipality.
“I am in hospitality and I love everything about my customers. As for staff, I am a massive believer in ‘you are who you attract’. My staff are everything to my business. They are my voice, my eyes, my pulse when I am not available to be out front; the very reason they work with me is because they know this.
“I rejected this industry for decades knowing that I would be reasonably good at it and would absolutely love it… Why reject it then? Hard work… long days, early starts, but so rewarding! You meet wonderful people, you witness families grow from no children to a tribe of four or five. You truly connect. It’s such a wholesome and rewarding industry.
- 25 Tooronga Road, Malvern East
- 9571 9585
- Junior on Instagram
Body Be Well
“Out of the darkness comes a bright light, a beacon of hope and a vote for community, humanity, wellbeing in Body Be Well.
“We are a bespoke training facility located in the heart of Malvern East. We cater to all fitness levels, helping our clients achieve symmetry, agility and strength by utilising an array of functional movement patterns and weight training routines.
“We are for busy people who are dissatisfied with one size fits all model of fitness training. We provide specialised and specific fitness solutions to cater to all age groups and no one program is the same as no person is the same.
“Unlike other studios that provide a cardboard cutout service our business is totally focused on our clients’ individual needs offering a holistic and mindful approach.
“We have been in the business of fitness for over 25 years. Having owned a gym in the past we knew the procedures that came with opening a facility but were pleasantly surprised that Stonnington even offered a concierge service for small business.
“Body Be Well evolved due to COVID. We moved from indoor training to outdoors. Having a strong social media presence on Instagram also kept us present providing recipes and blog content.
“We trained clients at DW Lucas Oval and created our ‘outdoor’ studio. The community embraced our services and participated when they could. And, the feedback was extremely positive.
“The physical support we offered plus mental health was insurmountable. This led to the decision to finally open our studio and Body be Well was born.
“For us, it was a no-brainer to operate our business within Stonnington. We have lived in Malvern East for over 14 years with our three children who also attend the local schools. We shop local and now work local.
“We have had great support from Stonnington by way of permits for our outdoor training to town planning and our permit applications. With the help of Stonnington, our experience has been seamless.
“We highly recommend any new business to utilise the concierge service as it really did make the transition and communication with different departments all that more fluid.
1939 – 1941 Malvern Road, Malvern East
