It takes resilience, business acumen, and a fair degree of undeniable chutzpah to survive decades as an independent retailer in Sydney’s tough commercial scene – but Jill Ordish possesses all that and more, her iconic “Macleay on Manning” store this year celebrating its 25th year as a Potts Point landmark.

Known for its striking ever-changing window displays and eclectic blend of stocked items – from luxury homewares to idiosyncratic gifts to designer fashion – the shop on the corner of Macleay and Manning is a haven of style and charm, deftly connecting the older Bohemian vibes of the area with the more upmarket tastes of contemporary Potts Point.

And looking back at Jill’s two-and-a-half decades on the strip, it may seem as though the store’s longevity is due to the cunning master plan of some experienced expert retailer. Far from it, at the start at least. When Jill walked past the empty shopfront in the early 2000s, she’d been a sporting event organiser and had never worked in retail a single day in her life.

“I was very very good at shopping,” she laughs from the shopfloor on an overcast January afternoon. “But I’d not been a retailer before at all … I just walked by and saw the shop vacant and thought, ‘I need a career change’.

“I thought, ‘What do I really want to do?’ And we’ve gone from that raw early start to this beautiful thing,” she says, sweeping her arm across to indicate the vibrant store and its array of items surrounding her.

Jill says the initial idea she and husband Rod had for the store was to offer a space where people could just walk in, browse, and hopefully be inspired by their personally curated range of products. Along with store manager David Wade, the changing demographics of the area have meant Jill’s approach has had to be nimble and flexible, guiding the vision for the store as the suburb has evolved.

“We were seeing a lot of change even right at the start, with new buildings, new apartments and a lot more affluent people moving in,” she says. “The old ‘Kings Cross’ was still evident, but the demographic was definitely changing and that’s continued to happen.

“There were a lot of architects working in the area at the time, a lot of interior designers and developers, so I wanted to create a space that covered everything they might want, whether it’s a work of art, a vase, a piece of furniture or simply if it’s a local person who wants to buy something for $20 and have a chat.”

That sense of community connection became even more important for Jill five years ago when, on the first night of a buying trip to Paris, her much-loved husband and store co-founder, Rod, suffered a devastating stroke.

“He is the love of my life and he had a massive stroke on night one of the trip,” she says. “I felt so alone and in complete shock. We ended up having to stay there for three months before we could get a medivac flight back home.”

As a result of the stroke, Rod lost his speech and his ability to walk. But in a ray of light and hope, it was discovered that Rod was remarkably able to express himself in painting; his gorgeously colourful expressionistic artworks now being a very special addition to the items adorning the walls of Macleay On Manning.

“When you’re dealt a deck of cards like that and you just have to deal with it,” Jill says. “You’ve got to keep going, you can’t fall in a heap. That’s what why I am incredibly passionate about the shop and the community here. We’re not just here to make money; it’s all about feeling and connection and it’s why we put so much love into the store.”

And right there is no doubt the key to their longevity and success. Heart and soul, connection and community, the ever-evolving shopfront displays a visual testament to their commitment to providing Potts Point with a uniquely eclectic and special space.

By Adam Gibson