The Junction Fair Shopping Centre is home to a fresh new face: introducing Zjoosh, the first Newcastle store for the Australian women’s fashion and lifestyle brand.

The boutique has brought a burst of colour to The Junction, and its opening has come at the perfect time for Christmas gifting.

First things first: if the pronunciation of Zjoosh is puzzling you, think of the ‘zj’ and ‘sh’ as being pronounced like ‘s’ in ‘vision.’ Once you sound it out, you’ll know the word, and it’s what Zjoosh is all about, Founder and Creative Director Kellie Rigney told us.

“The word zjoosh means to take something and make it more beautiful – you might zjoosh your table, or you zjoosh your hair, or you zjoosh your look,” she said.

Walking into Zjoosh, it’s not hard to start finding things to zjoosh up your home and your wardrobe.

“We’ll often have someone come in on a Friday who’s going to a dinner party and would like to take [their host] a special candle or something like that, but then on their way out they’ll end up seeing something for themselves… They often come in for a gift and leave with a whole outfit,” Kellie said. 

While Zjoosh stocks Australian brands like Glasshouse Fragrances and iKOU, the majority of its pieces are Zjoosh’s own brand, designed by its creative team in Australia and made all over the world.

When we visited the store in The Junction, Kellie took us on a tour of everything the brand has to offer, centred around fashion, home, and gifts.

Zjoosh’s clothing is colourful and playful, made in classic cuts from high-quality natural materials.

“The emphasis is on our own fashion and we focus on pure fibres like cotton and linen – everything is beautifully crafted.”

The range of bags make an excellent match for the clothing line – there’s plenty of shapes and colours, plus interchangeable straps so you can essentially enjoy two bags in one.

Looking for more pieces to really Zjoosh things up? The store also offers footwear, jewellery, hair accessories, and scarves.

“Our cashmere scarfs are a great gift, especially for someone who loves to travel because they’re lightweight and they fold out quite wide for a plane trip.”

While we wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to have a shopping spree in Zjoosh all for yourself, it’s certainly a gold mine for gifts.

From candles (and fancy matchboxes) and cushions to lamps and tableware, there’s so many options when you’re on the hunt for something thoughtful.

“We specialise in finding gifts at any price. You could come in and say ‘I need a gift for under $20.’ We also sell special gifts for significant birthdays and that sort of thing. There’s something for everyone and everything is beautifully gift-wrapped with our compliments.”

Now that there’s a Zjoosh store in Newcastle, the brand’s online customers have a local place where they can see its goodies in person.

“It’s been lovely and well received by our customers who have shopped online for a long time but actually want to try things on.”

The good news? There might be a Zjoosh store near you in the future.

“It’s a growing brand and we’re really excited to open and expand with more stores next year.”