Meet Emily Coker from East End fashion boutique Hey Jude Love Pete

She also shuns the "best sellers" when buying stock for her East End fashion boutique Hey Jude Love Pete, preferring to buy small quantities of quirkier labels.

Launching her store in between lockdowns in 2021, her decisions are paying off in a tough economic market.

"I am going gangbusters, to be honest," she says. "I was in Sydney last week buying next winter [stock] and a few reps were saying that the high end of our market is struggling because everyone is dressing down, working from home. I am still heading in the direction that I'm happy with and my accountant is happy, too."

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Raised in Tamworth, Ms Coker landed her first job in retail at 11 in a fabric shop.

She moved to Newcastle to complete a double degree in teaching and social science, working in a local surf shop during that time, before moving to northern NSW to live and teach.

She travelled and worked overseas and returned to Newcastle in 2005, when she worked for Cotton On Kids in Kotara then opened a concept store for the popular brand in Charlestown Square.

She managed Hunter 81 ladies store in the CBD before taking the plunge and opening Hey Jude Love Pete, a reference to the names of her parents.

The store stocks "casual, colourful and comfortable" clothing and accessories and is the only stockist north of Sydney and up to Yamba of Merry Gumboots. She opened a few months before the August lockdown began in 2021, prompting her to divert stock to her home.

"I was going to do a website and I'll never say never but it's time and effort and I'm a single mum and not great with technology and I like to deliver a service and I can't do that through a screen," she says.

"I feel the only way to support bricks and mortar is to get [customers] through the door."

Ms Coker attributes her steady trade to offering clothes that are affordable and unique. She trades seven days and also opens at special hours if customers can't attend during trading hours.

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