Client Focus

Recently we sat down with Maryanne Shearer, original founder of T2, to discuss her ventures in Melbourne’s retail and hospitality scenes.

In 1996, Maryanne Shearer (Maryanne), alongside her business partner at the time, revolutionised the tea industry in Australia.   

The business, humbly called T2 after the two co-founders, took the market by storm through their passion for educating consumers about tea. After opening the first store on one of Melbourne’s most colourful streets, Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, the business grew from strength to strength with stores popping up across Australia before venturing into the international scene.   

In 2014, after Maryanne stepped away from the tea business, she assisted with the launch of another business.

T2 transformed the tea industry in Australia.  It’s evident you’ve become a master of turning passions into business. How do you do it? 

You need to find what is it that makes you tingle. What makes you jump out of bed in the morning.

It’s about finding the burn in your belly. If you don’t find that, you won’t be successful.

That is what passion is to me. And in the end, not a lot of people find their passion.

At T2 we created a thing called the “T2 Tea Generation”, which is if someone comes to work in the morning and they feel like they’re part of something bigger, they’ll do whatever it takes to be amazing.

Your team will do it for themselves when they feel like they’re part of a movement.

I think it’s fabulous that we can have a team of people who do what they believe in and that you have good values.

What’s important is when you go to bed at night and what you did today added value to you, your family and the world. That’s the most important thing, and that’s why this movement thing is important.

So whatever you’re doing, do it well, create followers, be kind, spread love. It’s not hard, you can do it with tea, you can do it with croissants and you can do it with law.

I always say, find a job that you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. 

If you read the papers, they say old school retail is dead and businesses need to have a strong online presence to be successful. What do you say to that?

I think that is absolute nonsense. I love this time for retail right now. 

For me, retail, its this tribal stuff which I love.

I love the North, Fitzroy, Collingwood, Richmond, that’s my hood, that’s my tribe and that’s where I grew up. I go there all the time and shop, but it doesn’t necessarily mean I buy all the time.

I love to walk up and down Smith Street. I’ll go into Falco Bakery and then I’ll pop into Meatsmith, which is Andrew McConnell’s. And I love all of that, that’s called shopping.

Retail has to be good enough because the internet gives you your needs. I could go online and buy all of my needs, I could buy my favourite tee shirts my favourite runners, but that’s not shopping for me. Shopping is meant to be full of surprise and delight.

So you need retail and street shopping for that, which needs to be theatrical, seductive. It has to change my habits, so it’s more of a cultural day out.

When I wander up and down Smith Street or High Street, Armadale, it has to tantalise me. And I think it does now. Hight Street has got this whole new world going, it has killed Chapel Street and Hawksburn. 

All the large retailers have moved up to High Street, which means its now all in the one place. But really, who knows how long that will last, that’s retail. 

What I love now is that the standard has to rise, so it must be theatre, it must be bigger. For you to come in and support my habit of being a great retailer, I have to really entertain you.

I do have a funny feeling we are growing out of shopping centres and department stores. I just don’t think retail is dead at all, I think it’s a beautiful blend of 50 / 50. You need online, but physical retail gives you your wants.

In Melbourne we are spoilt for choice with an array of incredible eateries. What are your top two?

I do really love Andrew McConnell, Cutler & Co is my favourite at the moment. He’s a clever man and he gets it right.

It has been a favourite for a long time. I really love the theatre, the food is beautiful and the service is extraordinary.

Another one would be Tedesca Osteria in Red Hill, which is great.

And I cannot forget Trattoria Emilia in Little Collins Street. It’s great, so European.

They are probably my three, but I have lots, we love eating out.

Oh and Gimlet, we love Gimlet.

Do you have any words of wisdom for someone wanting to break into the fiercely competitive hospitality world in Melbourne?

It’s bloody hard work.

Hospitality now is not just food. It’s service, it’s a delicious meal, it’s a good wine. All of those things.

For us its service, that is what is really important and is our point of difference. People can get food anywhere and you can take away the feeling of hungry at any time of the day. But you can’t get service, service is rare.   

Also, I think it’s really important that you believe in what you’re doing. And out of that you create passionate followers. 

In Melbourne there are lots of places you can buy coffee, but that’s not the full experience. When we go to Europe, we go to these places and hang out. People come to your establishment because they enjoy the space.

To get into hospitality, it’s too hard, so you have to love it. If you love it then it won’t matter.

Compared to retail, it’s much harder. Because retail has stock and inventory and that’s where your business comes from. Hospitality is staff, its really hard, and I’m more comfortable in a retail space, Ned is more comfortable in a hospitality space.

I say, if you’re prepared to put in the hard work, the joy from watching people enjoy what you make and say thank you when they walk out, that is very encouraging and enlightening.   

So go for it, but know this is really want you want to do.

Author and Contact

Madeleine Lee, Associate – madeleinel@zervoslawyers.com.au
Image Source – Brand&Co.