Goldfields Getaway
10 March, 2022
Everything old is new again
For 122 years, the shop on the corner of Napier and Inkerman Streets in Maryborough has been owned and run by the Maffescioni family. In 1900, Bernadio (Barnie) and Mabel Maffescioni bought the shop and adjoining house and ran it as a Bealiba Wood...
For 122 years, the shop on the corner of Napier and Inkerman Streets in Maryborough has been owned and run by the Maffescioni family.
In 1900, Bernadio (Barnie) and Mabel Maffescioni bought the shop and adjoining house and ran it as a Bealiba Wood Yard. In the 1930s, the family turned the store into a mixed business. It continued to operate until 1985, when Tom and Cath Maffescioni decided to retire. The doors remained closed until 2010, when it operated on and off as a ‘pop-up’ store, opening at various times to offer a selection of vintage and new items.
Now the store is being given a new lease of life as mother and daughter team Val and Nicky Maffescioni open Just Mabel, a giftware and vintage store.
“We have a collection of vintage items that I’ve collected over the years – clothes, doll’s prams, doll’s clothes and babywear,” Nicky said.
“We have a beautiful range of locally made candles, bath bombs, bath salts, and scrubs, as well as beautiful handcrafted earrings that are made locally.
“Mum (Val) is very talented at sewing, you name it Mum can make it.”
As Nicky explains, while the corner shop may be facing a new future, the past is never far away.
“My great grandmother lived in the house adjoining the shop until she died,” Nicky said.
“Towards the end of her life, if she needed anything she would bang her walking stick on the floor. If any of the family hear an unexplained banging, we will often turn to each other and say ‘It’s just Mabel’.”