The beloved Geelong store formerly known as Peach Boutique has recently renamed and rebranded, now identified as hutch. Sisters Jenna and Em Hutchison, the names behind the store, decided that the time had come to make the exciting change.
“I don’t remember not wanting to change the name from when we first purchased the business. It was always going to happen. We never really wanted to keep ‘Peach boutique’ and we always wanted to put our own spin on things, but it was just a matter of when,” says Em.
The girls happened to fall into the business, when the former owner had notified Jenna, who was at the time stocking her candle brand Love Ludie in the store, that she would soon be selling.
“I have Love Ludie – the candle brand – and the previous owner stocked the candles in the store and I came in one day to drop some stock off and she said ‘oh, just so you know, I’m selling the business’ and I was like ‘cool’, and I thought to myself ‘I’m going to buy it,’” says Jenna.
“Courtney [the previous owner] was so supportive through the whole thing – I think she wanted to sell it to someone that really cared and was really into it and I think she saw a creative side in Jen and then I, I just jumped on board,” continues Em.
From humble beginnings taking on Peach Boutique, the girls claim that the experience has taught them many things, which have contributed to and shaped what is now hutch.
“The amount of stuff that we’ve learnt in the past year – I couldn’t imagine doing this at this time last year, or even the start of it when we first took over. I feel like it’s really shaped how we’ve rebranded, especially bringing in menswear from feedback that we’ve gotten from our customers,” says Em.
While the store has been renamed and rebranded, loyal customers of Peach Boutique need not fear, as hutch. will carry over all that its customers previously loved, except it will do so in a refreshing new environment, with some additional perks and benefits.
“Elements [will both be similar and different to Peach] – elements in terms of the stock, the brands. We’ll focus on what has done really well for us as Peach and what our customer have loved in the past, because there’s no point in just giving it up just for the sake of changing it. This is only really the beginning, because we’re slowly going to bring in other brands and lots of different things are going to happen,” the girls say.
“It’s just a matter of what we’ve learnt in the last year as well, people do want something different, they do want to go into a nice store. They want to find new brands and guys do come in here, so, it’s just adapting to what we’ve noticed. We’re not just doing this because it’s like, ‘oh, we want to get guys clothes so we can get guys in store’. It’s because guys come in anyway, so let’s make them feel welcome and comfortable.”
Being so passionate about what they do, the girls aim for hutch. to be so much more than a simple store; they aim for it to be an experience.
“This is something that we are all about [the customer experience]. This is why we’ve put stools at the counter, this is why we’re doing hutch. pale ale and beers. We want people to be comfortable. They come in, they have a beer, they have a chat, they hang out, they sit on the couches, try some things on and if they find something they love, then fantastic,” they say.
Following their grand opening which took place on Saturday June 24, hutch. may now arguably be identified as Geelong’s newest go-to destination.
You can find hutch. at 77 Malop Street, Geelong, or check out their website via www.hutchstore.com.au/.
Written by Helena Metzke
