The newest store to hit Grand Central is all about the tweens, and was created by mother-daughter duo Janine Burford and Jessica Wood.
Harper Bee is opening this Saturday (9 September) and will offer a range of age-appropriate clothing, jewellery, bedroom and bathroom accessories, stationery and other tech delights.
Harper Bee owner Janine says she plans to use the store as a platform to empower girls and express themselves in this kinda awkward in-between phase.
“Being a tween-aged girl is hard,” Janine says. “As parents, we want to keep our tweens young but because they only know a digital world, these girls are wanting to grow up more quickly. It can be a tough balancing act to parent a tween or a teenaged girl in the 21st Century.
“Through Harper Bee, we want to help local girls who are going through these challenging years do amazing things to shape the kind of adults they will become. This is why we will be launching our Bee Aware project here in Toowoomba to help local girls fulfill their dreams.”
The Bee Aware project will be donating funds to local tween and teen girls to help them realise their goals. All profits from the sale of specially designed Harper Bee tote bags will go to Bee Aware.
The store’s first design range, Personality, celebrates the different personalities of girls who are at a point in their lives where they are creating, trialling and developing their own identities.
Each of the products in the Personality range are bespoke and designed by popular Brisbane-based international illustrator Lauren Carney (aka Dizzy Little Dotty).
Harper Bee products clockwise from top left, sleeping bag, cushion, bluetooth speakers, make up bag, back pack.
“There are very few stores catering to girls specifically in this age range,” Janine says. “We have created Harper Bee as a place where tween girls can stop by, feel safe, be understood and can really call the space their own.”
When they aren’t at the ‘Bee Hive’ working on new ranges, Janine and her daughter Jess will be working in the stores themselves to help make Harper Bee a place where tween girls can really ‘bee’ themselves. Janine says she is excited to launch her new brand in Toowoomba with plans to roll out more Harper Bee stores in other Queensland and national locations.
To celebrate the launch of Harper Bee at Toowoomba Grand Central this Saturday, Brisbane-based artist Dizzy Little Dotty will be running three free drawing workshops in-store.
Visit www.harperbee.com.au and give them love on Facebook and Instagram too.
Feature image: mother and daughter Janine Burford and Jessica Wood.
