Irene and Tom opened Mekko in 2018, first Rent a Rack market in Australia!

 

Irene is a Finnish girl who met a Swedish boy Tom in 2001 whilst backpacking in Australia (Perth more precisely).

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After living overseas together including Finland, Sweden, U.K and New Zealand, in 2010 they decided to emigrate to Australia permanently due to Tom's profession as a chef.

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Their dream was one day to open their own cafe and Irene soon recognized a gap in the sustainable fashion market in Australia.

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'I could not believe there were no rent a rack markets in Australia. Being an 80's kid in Finland, we already had rent a rack markets then, all over the country'.

 

They were called flea markets (and still are) which prompted Irene to come up with a new name for it.

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'When my little sister in Finland told us about former Miss Finland opening a rent a rack market with a trendy cafe in the heart of Helsinki, we thought wow, we could do that...and we did!

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It's hard work running two businesses in one, but we love it and we put our heart and soul into it.

 

The most fun part is the menu meetings as  we get to be creative. We change the menu every season, so as soon as we launch a new menu, we're already thinking about the next one! We're big foodies and appreciate good food, therefore we put so much love and passion into it.

 

Our beautiful customers that many have become friends, gorgeous clothes, good food..it all really makes Mekko a special place. And we genuinely feel very blessed to be able to showcase both food and fashion under one roof as it took us so long to find a suitable property and location.

 

But we could not do any of this without our wonderful staff and they share the same passion of making amazing coffee (by Degroot Coffee Co), love of good food and ecological shopping. All these three things make the world a little bit happier place'.

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2021 Irene and Tom were ready to open their 2nd store, Monday Market in Norwood.