Our story — Meet Wendy
I moved to Daylesford from Ballarat in 2019 with two kids, a rented house on Raglan Street, and about $3,400 left in my account after the bond. My youngest was six. I'd been doing admin for a building supplies company in Ballarat for four years and when that contract ended, I didn't have the luxury of waiting around to figure out what I wanted to be. I needed something that would cover the rent by the end of the following month. That's not a dramatic origin story, it's just the situation. Most of the decisions I've made since then have started from the same place: what actually works, right now, with what I've got.
Before Newtown Grocer, I ran a small cleaning business out of Mount Gambier for about three years in my late twenties. It paid the bills but I was driving 400 kilometres a week and burning through a car. When I moved back to Victoria I tried a few things, a market stall at the Daylesford Sunday Market, some bookkeeping for local trades, a short stint packing orders for a winery near Hepburn Springs. None of it added up to enough on its own. What I did notice was that every tradie and weekend renovator I met through the market or the winery work was either overcharged at the big hardware chains or waiting two weeks for delivery on basic gear they needed that afternoon.
I spent about six weeks in late 2020 talking to people at the Daylesford and Hepburn Shire men's shed, at the Saturday market, and a couple of building supply reps I still knew from the Ballarat job. By January 2021 I'd placed my first wholesale order, roughly $2,800 worth of hand tools and power equipment from a distributor in Dandenong. I set up a Shopify store from my kitchen table, took the product photos myself against a white sheet pinned to the laundry wall, and made back the cost of that first order within five weeks. That was the decision moment. Not a grand plan, just a number that made sense.
We're based in Daylesford and ship nationally. I pack most orders myself in the garage, though I've got help now from a small team who work part-time around school hours, which matters to me because I still pick my kids up at 3:15. The brand name came from the street I grew up on in Newtown, Geelong. It doesn't mean anything fancy, it's just where I'm from. We sell gear that does the job, we answer emails the same day, and we try not to overcomplicate it.
— Just trying to keep it simple and keep it honest. — Wendy, Wendy Jane Ellis
Journal
Why I ended up selling tools in the first place
The short version is that a broken tap washer at 11pm taught me more about my stock gaps than any spreadsheet ever had.
Last winter the tap in my laundry started leaking. Not a drip, a proper run. I went through my entire shed looking for a wrench that fit the packing nut and came up with nothing useful. The closest hardware is 22 kilometres away and shuts at five. I ended up wrapping a tea towel around the tap and turning the mains off at the meter box, which meant no water in the house until the following morning when my daughter had school. That night I sat at the kitchen table and wrote down every job I'd tried to do in the past six months where I'd either had the wrong tool or no tool at all. The list was longer than I expected.
I'd been running Newtown Grocer for about two years at that point, mostly focused on pantry goods and a few cleaning products. The rent on the Daylesford shopfront was $2,340 a month and the margins on dry goods were not winning that race. I needed something that people actually searched for, bought once, and didn't return because it was the wrong flavour. Tools kept coming up when I looked at what was selling for other small regional stores online. Not power tools necessarily, just the reliable everyday stuff that people in older houses with older plumbing genuinely need.
I spent about three weeks looking at what was already out there before I landed on the AussieGrip Pro Wrench Set. I wanted something that came in a proper case, because loose tools in a bag are a nightmare for postage and for customers who want to store them tidily. The set has 8 pieces including two adjustable spanners and a pipe wrench, which covers the jobs that come up most often in a Federation-era house. There are a lot of Federation-era houses in this part of Victoria. That felt like a reasonable starting point.
I ordered 12 sets in the first run and sold 9 of them in the first five weeks, mostly to people in Daylesford and Hepburn Springs but also two to customers in Ballarat who found the listing online. The other 3 sat on the shelf for another month, which was fine. I wasn't trying to move volume. I was trying to work out whether this category made sense for the store, and those early numbers told me it did. I also fixed my own tap, eventually, using the pipe wrench from the display set. The irony of stocking the solution to the original problem was not lost on me.
I've added four more tool lines since then. None of it was planned in advance. It was all just: what problem did I have, what did I google at 11pm, and is that something I can stock without betting the whole shop on it. That's still basically the process.
Three weekends, one sander, and the Hepburn wind
I tested the PrecisionHands Electric Sander on my own veranda boards before I agreed to stock it, which felt like the least I could do.
The back veranda at my place faces south-west, which means it gets the full weight of the Hepburn wind from about April onwards. The previous owners had painted the boards in a dark grey that had been peeling since before I moved in. By June this year the surface was bad enough that my daughter had collected two splinters in one week just walking out to feed the cat. I decided to strip the whole thing back and reseal it, partly because it needed doing and partly because I'd just taken delivery of the PrecisionHands Electric Sander and I wanted to know whether it was worth the shelf space before I committed to a second order.
The veranda is about 14 square metres. I started on the first Saturday in June with 80-grit paper on the sander and worked along the grain of each board in sections. The old paint was thick and the grain on some of the boards was quite open, which meant the dust collector filled up faster than I expected. I emptied it four times in the first session alone. The sander has a variable speed dial and I kept it around two-thirds for most of the stripping work, dropping it back for the final pass with 120-grit. My arms were tired by lunch but not wrecked, which I think says something about the weight distribution.
The wind was the main problem. Even with the dust collector running, fine particles were going sideways into the garden and onto the outdoor table. I ended up doing most of the work in the mornings before the westerlies picked up, which meant spreading it across three weekends instead of two. I'm not complaining about that. Daylesford in July is cold but it's also genuinely beautiful if you're not in a hurry, and I had coffee and the radio and nowhere else to be before 10am.
I used a Feast Watson decking oil in a mid-brown tone for the finish, two coats applied four days apart. The boards came up better than I'd hoped. The sander had taken enough off the surface without eating into the timber, which matters on older boards that don't have much depth left in them. I've since had two customers contact me after buying the sander to say they used it on similar projects, one in Clunes and one in Maryborough, both on old weatherboard houses. That kind of feedback is more useful to me than any product description.
The cat now sits on the veranda without incident. My daughter has not collected any more splinters. These are the metrics that matter at our place.
What the back room of this shop actually looks like
Most photos of small businesses show the front of the shop; I want to write about what happens at the fold-out table after 8pm.
Tuesday and Wednesday nights are when I pack online orders. My daughter is in bed by eight and I have about two hours before I'm too tired to do anything carefully. The back room is a converted storeroom with a fold-out table, a label printer that jams about once every 15 uses, and a shelf system I built from a flat-pack kit I bought at the Ballarat Bunnings clearance section for $47. It's not a pretty space. There's a crack in the plaster above the door that I keep meaning to fill and haven't. The light is a single LED batten that buzzes faintly when it's cold.
A typical Wednesday night might have 8 to 12 orders queued. The tool sets take the most time to pack because the cases need to be checked before the lid goes on, then wrapped in brown paper, then boxed. The OzDrill Cordless Impact Driver comes in its own carry case which makes the outer packaging simpler, but the case lid has a clip that I always double-check because one came open in transit back in September and the customer in Toowoomba received a loose driver rattling around in a box. She was very good about it. I sent a replacement and a refund on the postage and made a note to tape the clip on every unit going forward.
I use Australia Post eParcel for most orders. The label printer connects via USB to the old laptop I keep on the table and the integration with my store platform works about 80% of the time. The other 20% involves refreshing, swearing quietly, and eventually logging into the AP portal directly. I've looked at switching platforms twice and both times decided the disruption wasn't worth it. Familiarity has its own value when you're doing this alone at 9pm.
I pack everything myself. I looked at using a third-party fulfilment service in Geelong earlier this year when the order volume went up for about six weeks. The quote came back at $4.20 per order plus a monthly storage fee, which would have wiped most of the margin on smaller items. So I kept the fold-out table. I don't say that with any particular pride, it's just what made sense at the time. The numbers didn't work and the numbers have to work.
By 10pm the orders are usually done, the labels are printed and stuck, and the boxes are stacked by the back door for the post office run in the morning. I make a cup of tea and sit at the table for a few minutes before I go to bed. It's quiet. The town is quiet. I don't hate this part of the job.
The quince tree, the EcoCut saw, and what I learned
I have one quince tree at the back of the property and every March I regret not pruning it more aggressively the year before.
The quince tree came with the house. It's old, probably 40 years or more, and it fruits heavily every second year in a pattern that seems indifferent to whatever I do. This March it had set a good crop, small quinces but a lot of them, and several of the main scaffold branches had grown past the point where I could manage them from the ground. I'd been putting off the prune because I didn't have a saw I trusted for branches above about 30mm. The EcoCut Pruning Saw had been sitting in my stock for three months and I finally just took one off the shelf and used it.
The blade is 330mm and the teeth are triple-ground, which I'd read about but didn't fully understand until I was standing on a stepladder in the morning cool trying to take off a branch that was easily 60mm at the base. It cut on both the push and pull stroke, which sounds obvious but makes a real difference when you're working at an angle above your head with your arms getting tired. I took off six major branches in about an hour and a half. The tree looks severe now but the central leader is clear and the light will get into the middle of the canopy, which is the point.
Daylesford in March is still warm enough in the afternoons but the mornings have that first edge of autumn in them. The grass was wet when I started and the neighbour's golden elm across the fence was already turning. I like this time of year more than most. The summer tourist traffic has dropped off and the town feels like it belongs to the people who actually live here again. The school dropped to 23 kids in my daughter's year this term, which is small enough that everyone knows everyone's name, and I find that reassuring in a way I didn't expect when I moved here.
I brought the pruned branches around to the front and broke them down for the green bin and kept the thicker pieces for kindling. Quince wood burns well and smells good. The saw cleaned up easily with a damp cloth and I put it back in its sleeve without any rust or sap buildup. I'll stock it again. The feedback from the one other customer who bought it, a woman in Mount Gambier who was managing a heritage apple orchard, was that it held its edge through a full season's work without needing resharpening.
The quinces will be ready to pick in May. I'll make paste if I have the time, which I usually don't, but I keep saying it anyway.
Customer reviews
Marcus T. — Marrickville, NSW — 2024-03-14 — 5/5
Wrench set does exactly what it says
Ordered the AussieGrip Pro Wrench Set on a Tuesday and it showed up Thursday, which was faster than I expected for standard shipping. The chrome-vanadium construction feels genuinely solid — I've used cheaper sets that flex under pressure, and this one doesn't. Good size range in the kit too. Would buy from Newtown Grocer again.
Sophie R. — Brunswick, VIC — 2024-06-02 — 4/5
Impact driver is a solid buy
The OzDrill Cordless Impact Driver has been getting a workout on a deck I'm building and it hasn't let me down yet. Battery life is decent — I'm getting through most of a day's work on a single charge. Only reason it's four stars is that the case is a bit flimsy, but the tool itself is great for the price.
Lena K. — Fitzroy, VIC — 2024-08-19 — 5/5
Pruning saw is a proper workhorse
I bought the EcoCut Pruning Saw after my old one finally gave out. The blade is sharp out of the box and the folding mechanism locks securely — no wobble mid-cut. Used it on some overgrown bottlebrush and got through it cleanly. Arrived well-packaged and in good shape.
Tom B. — New Farm, QLD — 2024-10-05 — 4/5
Workbench is big but worth the setup
The MultiTask Folding Workbench took about 40 minutes to assemble from the instructions, which were clear enough. Once it's up, it's rock solid and the folding feature actually works well for storage in my garage. Delivery took 6 days to Brisbane, which is fair enough given the size. Happy with it overall.
Priya M. — Surry Hills, NSW — 2024-11-22 — 5/5
Electric sander made a big difference
Picked up the PrecisionHands Electric Sander for a furniture restoration project and it handled hardwood without overheating. The variable speed dial is genuinely useful — I used a lower setting for the final pass and got a really clean finish. Shipping was quick and the packaging protected the unit well.
Dave O. — Fremantle, WA — 2025-01-08 — 4/5
Good tools, honest delivery time
Being in Fremantle I knew it would take a bit longer to arrive, and the website said up to 8 business days for WA — it came in 7, so that's about right. The AussieGrip Pro Wrench Set itself is well made and the grip handles are comfortable even when you're putting real torque on a stubborn bolt. Would have given 5 stars if the case had a latch.
Claire W. — Hobart, TAS — 2025-02-17 — 5/5
Fast dispatch, good communication
I ordered the EcoCut Pruning Saw and got a dispatch notification within a few hours. It arrived in Hobart in 5 business days, which was better than I expected. The saw is compact when folded and fits in my garden bag without any fuss. Really pleased with the whole experience.
Raj N. — West End, QLD — 2025-04-03 — 4/5
Impact driver handles the job
Bought the OzDrill Cordless Impact Driver to replace an old corded drill and I'm not going back. The torque is more than enough for the home renovation work I'm doing. Delivery was on time and the unit came boxed properly with no rattling around inside. A second battery in the kit would make it a five-star product.
Shipping
We ship Australia-wide using Australia Post for standard delivery and StarTrack for express. Standard orders typically arrive within 3–8 business days: metro areas like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth are generally 3–5 business days, while regional centres, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory can take up to 8 business days. Express delivery via StarTrack runs 1–3 business days to most metro locations. Orders placed before 2pm AEST Monday to Friday are dispatched the same day. Orders placed after that cut-off, or on weekends and public holidays, go out the next business day. You'll receive a tracking number by email once your order leaves our Daylesford workshop.
Shipping is free on orders over $99 (GST inclusive). For orders under $99, standard shipping is calculated at checkout based on your postcode and the weight of your order. Express shipping is available at checkout for an additional fee. All prices on our site include GST — there are no surprise charges added at checkout. We pack orders in sturdy cardboard cartons sized to the contents, using internal padding for tools with moving parts or sharp edges. Larger items like the MultiTask Folding Workbench are double-boxed and secured with foam inserts to reduce the chance of transit damage.
If your order arrives damaged, take photos of the packaging and the item before opening it further, and contact us at hello@newtowngrocer.com.au within 48 hours of delivery. We'll lodge a claim with the carrier and arrange a replacement or refund depending on stock availability. We do not consider transit damage to be the customer's fault, and we'll sort it out at no cost to you. If your tracking shows your parcel as delivered but you haven't received it, contact us and we'll investigate with Australia Post or StarTrack on your behalf. Most missing parcel queries are resolved within 3–5 business days.
Returns
We accept returns within 30 days of the delivery date. For change-of-mind returns, the item must be unused, in its original packaging, and in a resaleable condition. Return postage for change-of-mind returns is the responsibility of the customer. We recommend using a tracked service, as we can't process a refund for items that don't make it back to us. To start a return, email hello@newtowngrocer.com.au with your order number and reason for return. Once we receive and inspect the item, we'll process your refund within 5–7 business days. Refunds are issued to the original payment method.
Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) are separate from and in addition to our 30-day change-of-mind policy. Under the ACL, you are entitled to a remedy if a product has a major fault, is not fit for purpose, does not match its description, or fails to meet an acceptable level of quality. In those cases, you can choose between a repair, replacement, or refund, depending on the nature of the fault. You don't need to return the item in its original packaging to claim an ACL remedy. If a product develops a fault after the 30-day window, contact us and we'll assess it on a case-by-case basis in line with our obligations under the ACL.
Certain items are excluded from our change-of-mind return policy. These include consumable products that have been opened or used, items that show signs of misuse or damage caused by the customer, and any order where the 30-day return window has passed. We also can't accept returns on items that have been modified or disassembled beyond what's required for normal use. These exclusions don't affect your rights under the Australian Consumer Law — if a product is faulty or not fit for purpose, those rights apply regardless. If you're unsure whether your situation qualifies, get in touch and we'll give you a straight answer.