Having grown up with the late 1960’s counterculture LSD mantra of “Turn on, tune in and drop out”, I very much modeled the largely offline Murrurundi Concept Store on the opposing notion of, “Turn off, tune out and drop in”. We are Old School at Murrurundi. Our drug of choice is, coffee, fine wine or imported beer, from the kiosk. Our aim is to have visitors slow down and re-discover the joy of physical browsing across a considered collection of curated products.
In late 2017, Michael Reid Murrurundi expanded into a new exhibition gallery space, adjacent to the original gallery and the homestead Bobadil House (1842). Freshly vacated, the original gallery took on a new life. The kiosk and concept store are now housed in this former convict cellblock – some 117 square metres.
We have never stocked the Concept Store from gift fairs. We work hard to avoid the bland, convenience of one stop stocking. Instead, we hunt. The ethos of the Concept Store is hand-made & Australian design and craftsmanship. There are some exceptions, but that is our focus.
A current popular item for example is a Shearers Knife, hand-made from old shearing blades and deer antler horn by Fred Perrott from Dirranbandi, Queensland. The linen range In The Sac is popular. Olsen Salts, handmade brass Pepper Mills (the ones you see in Bill’s restaurants) Yeti, RM Williams, Akubra and Oroton are all stocked brands.
If you have time, my colleagues have time for you at the Murrurundi Concept Store.” — Michael Reid OAM
