Client Stories

What clients say

The lease review alone saved us from a 42-square-metre site with a loading dock that would have blocked our Saturday deliveries. We ended up in Brunswick Street with room for the workshop table we needed.

Helen MarshOwner, Marsh & Coil homewares — Fitzroy

Poplar Way mapped our stock split between two stores so we did not duplicate slow lines. The second shop was profitable in month four, though I wish we had started the hiring plan a fortnight earlier.

David OkonkwoFounder, Okonkwo Pantry — Preston & Coburg

Marcus walked three shopping-centre options with us on a Saturday morning when the centres were actually busy. His notes on anchor-tenant footfall patterns were more useful than anything the leasing agents sent.

Sandra LiCo-owner, Li & Sons giftware — Chadstone expansion

Claire was direct about our cash buffer being thin for a December opening. We pushed the launch to February and avoided the January cash crunch that would have hurt us. Not the answer I wanted, but the right one.

Tom BergerOwner, Berger's Bikes — Richmond to Hawthorn

Extended story: Okonkwo Pantry

David Okonkwo ran a single specialty grocery in Preston for six years before approaching Poplar Way in early 2023. His Coburg site was a former takeaway with grease-trap compliance costs he had not budgeted for.

We completed a Site Selection Review on four premises, ruled out two on delivery access alone, and built a stock split that kept his high-turnover deli lines in Preston while moving bulk dry goods to the larger Coburg storeroom. Priya Nair designed a roster where one senior staff member floated between sites on Tue–Thu peak hours.

The Coburg door opened in September 2023. Combined group revenue rose 38% in the first year, with the second site covering its own rent from month four. David’s main feedback: start the hiring ads six weeks earlier than we originally scheduled.

Extended story: Marsh & Coil homewares

Helen Marsh wanted a second shop to house her popular in-store upholstery workshops. The first agent-led option in Collingwood had pretty windows but no rear access for fabric rolls.

Our expansion planning engagement included three site walks, a fit-out cost estimate that accounted for her industrial sewing machine power requirements, and a 24-month cash-flow model with a conservative scenario assuming workshops filled at 60% capacity.

Helen signed in Fitzroy on Smith Street. Workshops launched at full capacity within two months of opening. She credits the written opening checklist for catching a signage permit deadline that would have delayed her launch by three weeks.