Late last year, Darby Street became home to a brand-new concept with the launch of BLANKStore – the home of apparel, printing, and coffee.

Mitch Revs and Joel Grenell, the dynamic duo behind BLANKStore, brought their unique set of individual skills – Mitch, the artist, and Joel, the retail guru – together to deliver something truly unique to Newcastle.

“I have a warehouse over in Maryville and a lot of the one-offs that people would want. It was the one thing that just really didn’t work for wholesale that we were typically doing. I love retail and my staff kept saying, stop trying to do retail in this wholesale space. Mitch’s idea brought forward the opportunity I’d been looking for,” Joel said.

Opening just two weeks before Christmas, BLANKStore was brought to life in the space of two and a half months. Situated in the former SOMA hair spot on Darby Street, the once-dark interior has been completely transformed with three separate spaces; the café, the retail space, and the workshop space.

In the retail side of things, individuals are given the unique opportunity to unleash their own creativity through customising apparel on the spot. Choose from totes, a range of tees, and caps – basically anything you can think of printing on!

“I’d always wanted to do apparel because I wanted to give our artist community a risk-free way of creating customised merch. Very similar to how we work with our artists and printing over at the Mitch Revs Gallery,” Mitch said.

Joel’s background in retail and wholesale seamlessly complemented Mitch’s creative vision, laying the foundation for a business that has taken off in a short period of time.

Mitch shares that no matter where his business ventures take him, he hopes to invest in the local creative scene to nurture and develop the next generation of creators in the community.

“I said to Joel, how cool would it be having these little artists, so to speak thinking about creating their own brands.

“They would come in, have a two-hour workshop, draw pictures on a page, and then we can reproduce it in a digital art form, and they can pick what they want to print it on. We’ve got this cool little business where the kids can make it their own.”

The cafe side of things is home to specialty coffee by local coffee roasters Tapestry and Unison and comes complete with a selection of toasties and sweet treats by Tuga Pastries Bakery in Clovelly. Additionally, the walls are plastered with local art available for purchase.

Whilst Mitch and Joel are at the forefront of BLANKStore, the business wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the pair's partners, Emily and Bec. The group all leverage off of their past experience across the retail, café, and creative scenes.

Whilst it’s still only early days for BLANKStore, the almost instant success has us excited for the brand’s future. Pop by for a coffee and a toastie, and browse the retail selection.