Almost Famous

Many diners follow restaurants with the dedication of groupies trailing musicians, writes Nadia Bailey, and hospitality merchandise is their badge of honour.

- Nadia Bailey

When Smith & Daughters first opened its doors in Melbourne’s Fitzroy back in 2014, Shannon Martinez knew that the logo they’d come up with – an inverted cross emblazoned with EAT VEGAN – was special. To coincide with the opening, they had some T-shirts done up: all black with a supersized logo on the back. It didn’t take long for them to sell out.

“I’ve been in bands my whole life, so merch has always been something we’ve done,” says Martinez. “It was very obvious from the start that branding was going to be a huge part of the business.”

She wasn’t wrong. After the T-shirts came tote bags, pins and hoodies. Then customers started asking for coffee cups. Water bottles. Aprons. Baby clothes.

“If people ask for it, we give it to them. The amount that we sell actually surpasses bands. It’s insane,” Martinez says. “At Christmas, I think we sold over $20,000 worth of merchandise.”