A much-loved shop turned community hub for Ballarat's African community will close this week, leaving its founders and supporters "heartbroken".
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Women of the Well opened in Bridge Mall in August 2023, the brainchild of four women from South Sudan who bought their individual businesses producing hand-made goods together into one retail space that doubled as a hub for the city's African families.
"Our business has become a cherished community for women, families, and individuals of all ages," said one of its founders Mary Top.
"It has been a place where connections were forged, memories were made, and friendships blossomed."
The shop will have its last day of trade on Wednesday April 17 before its lease ends.
The store opened under the Ballarat Evolve program, which matches landlords looking for short-term tenants with local creative businesses and organisations.
The women had hoped to remain in Bridge Mall shop but the landlord has a commercial tenant lined up to move in and Women of the Well cannot afford to pay the commercial rent.
The search is now on for a space the Women of the Well can move into, but none of the locations they have viewed so far have been suitable.
"Everyone in the community is looking for a new space but we have had no luck to find a new location," Ms Top said.
"We are heartbroken. When we started at the shop front in Bridge Mall it impacted the community in a good, healthy way ... they feel they very much belong."
Unlike a traditional store, Women of the Well also opened as a meeting place with half of the Bridge Mall shop becoming a gathering place for people of all ages.
It was also established to inspire others in the community.
"It's become everything we need," Ms Top said.
"We laugh a lot, talk a lot, we do African coffee so people pop in. We do hair braids in the shop, we've got lollies and food, the children come in after school. It has become a community house, a heartbeat for children and women and even our men come in to sit down and talk.
"It inspires everyone and lets people come out of their comfort zone and feel they belong, that they are a part of the Ballarat community. This is about Ballarat, not just about the African community it's about the Ballarat community reaching out to people.
"People who come in say they never realised they would feel they very much belong in the shop."
The women - who came to Australia never having had the opportunity to go to school or learn English - learned to sew four years ago with help from a local church. They met as part of Ballarat's Multicultural Women's Group and have all raised children in Australia after escaping civil war.
Ms Top thanked the Ballarat community for supporting their "beloved shop".
"Although the doors of our current location may be closing, our commitment to our community remains unwavering. We will continue to actively engage and participate in community activities, and you'll still find us at local markets and soon online," she said.
