By Lotte Reiter

The general manager of a major women’s retailer opening a shop in Horsham hopes the brand can help stimulate economic growth on the city’s main strip.

Australian fashion brand Black Pepper will officially open its first store in the Wimmera’s capital at 9am tomorrow, filling the space at 76 Firebrace Street.

National general manager Rachel Digby said the retailer was very conscious of the fact that many regional towns were ‘doing it tough’ economically.

She said in addition to offering customers consistent and fashionable fits, she hoped opening the new store in Horsham’s central business district might stimulate other business leaders to expand to the area.

“We’re very community focused and extremely passionate about our customers and bringing business to the community to stimulate the city’s growth,” she said.

“We typically do well on main streets because of our loyal customer following, and hopefully we can inspire some other vendors to come and open up around us as well. Sometimes all it takes is one to start the spark.”

Black Pepper, established in 1976, sells women’s clothes and accessories. Ms Digby said the business was traditionally a wholesaler that had ‘extremely’ successful sales in regional centres.

She said opening the Firebrace Street store, which will employ a store manager and part-time workers, was an opportunity to fulfil a common request from Horsham customers, who have had to previously travel elsewhere to access the brand’s clothes.

“We’ve been operating for more than 40 years,” she said.

“We are extremely conscious of creating fashionable fits and styling to suit our demographic, and being consistent with our products that customers have come to love.

“We have received a lot of anecdotal feedback in stores such as Ballarat that people have wished for a store in Horsham.”

Ms Digby said the store would also offer Horsham residents extra entertainment and events, with the brand frequently hosting fashion parades and fundraisers for their charity partner Ovarian Cancer Australia in store.

“We want people to come in and enjoy the experience,” she said.

“We’re very positive about the future and very excited about the store, it’s looking beautiful.”

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