Claudia Baxter Meets Tea Towel Entrepreneurs Julie and Rob Hodges

I FIRST spied Julie’s Cotton Collection stall at the Jan Power’s New Farm markets, where I seized a spotty red tea towel and thrust $2.50 into Julie’s hand triumphantly.  We then fell into talking about her lovely range, as only women can.  “I designed the polka dots myself, but I’m really a check girl – we have about 10 varieties of check and over 50 different tea towel designs all together”, explains Julie.

It turns out Julie and her husband Rob are relatively new to the Saturday markets, having only been stall-holders for two months. They started their linen line in October last year and it’s stocked in two shops in Clayfield and Hamilton.

The cheery 100 percent cotton cloths have yet to make millionaires of the Hodges. The entrepreneurial couple is giving themselves tow years to build the business, while their main business supports them.

“oh that’s Rob’s baby.  Rob manufactures rust converters.  It’s pretty boring stuff” says Julie rolling her eyes and smiling cheekily at Rob. Taking the bait, Rob beams proudly and explains, “I’ve manufactured rust converters for about 30 years, it’s CALLED plus. It’s so well known, everyone asks for it!”

So, what’s in store for the future?  “We have some new designs arriving for July.  Bold black-and-white cutlery designs..we hope to get Gordon Ramsay using one of our tea towels.  We’ll even make one up with his favourite word!” laughs Julie.