SUMMER Street’s newest homewares and jewellery shop ISHKA celebrated its grand opening with pythons, belly dancers and live music on Saturday.
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The store, located in the main street’s top block, offers a range of “individual and unique” items from places such as Indonesia, Thailand, Peru and Afghanistan.
Ivana Jovanovic manager of ISHKA’s store in Prahran, Victoria is helping Orange store manager Hannah Amies set up shop and said the event was a great way for people to find out what the store is all about.
“We’re doing these things to introduce the fun, the atmosphere and the experience of ISHKA. We’re interconnecting with the customers,” Ms Jovanovic said.
“I really hope that it [the store] brings in something individual and unique to Orange, targeting the niche market that Orange has not yet experienced.”
Python handlers Maggie Morris and Grant Cox said they were happy that so many customers, especially children, were interested in their snakes, a two-and-a-half year Murray-Darling python and a four-year-old bredli python.
“We want to help educate people about snakes, that they’re not as bad as you think, but obviously not to pick them up in the wild,” Ms Morris said.
ISHKA has 30 stores across NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, including locations in Dubbo, Wagga Wagga and Tamworth.
Ms Jovanovic said since Michael Sklovsky opened the first store in Melbourne in 1971, the brand had remained true to its ideals, adding that it was about “sharing different views of the world and Eastern philosophy”.
alexandra.king@fairfaxmedia.com.au