Brendan Taylor and Kym Arnold recently sat down with long time client of Lincolns, Ricarda Loecker. If you are local to Albany, that name may sound familiar to you due to her flagship fashion and homewares store on York Street. While we normally focus on the business in these articles, as we started to talk to Ricarda and her life story unfolded, we realised there was so much more to her story than her current business. For this reason we decided to do this as a two part series and we can’t wait to hear what you think of her story.

Part 2

By the early 1980’s Ricarda was running a successful fashion design and manufacturing business. It was during this time that Ricarda and her partner (with 3 children) started talking seriously about making a change, giving it all up, and starting somewhere new. There were many reasons for them wanting this change which mostly came down to the intense pressure of running a large business while trying to juggle being a mother of 3 children. Another reason came a few years later when the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown occurred, and it no longer felt safe living so close to the epicenter.

Friends of theirs had recently moved to the east coast of Australia and with each visit, considering whether this is where they wanted to live. It was after a few years of visiting Australia that her partner suggested they head west to check out WA. While driving down lower Denmark road, they saw a sign for farm lots for sale. It perfectly fit their desire to be close to the ocean, grow their own veggies, “wash their clothes by hand” and live a simpler life outside society.

They started the process of looking at properties in the Torbay area. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as simple as just buying it, as they were foreigners, so they headed back to Germany. One year later in 1982 they made an offer to purchase the bush block they loved and managed to do the deal. Then Ricarda sold her business in Germany during this time and started working as a designer for a German fashion brand - Strenesse. They emigrated to Australia in 1985. Ricarda was still working for Strenesse and would fly back and forth while her partner stayed in Torbay to care for their children.

By 1989 Ricarda and her partner separated and she soon realized it was time to give up her fashion design work. She bought a commercial rental property on York Street. Around 1993, one half of the shopfront she owned on York Street became available. It was around this time that new concept retail stores were starting to open in Europe, which mixed fashion, homewares and beauty, so Ricarda thought why not give it a go and give herself an outlet for her love of fashion. And so her self-named retail store, which is still there today, opened.

The first few years were a big learning curve for Ricarda. In Germany her signature style was long pleated skirts, heavy jackets and jumpers, which she realised was a big change, as the market in Australia was more tailored to summery style, lighter and casual wearing clothes. Ricarda’s store was one of the first high fashion stores in Western Australia which meant it took time for people to become accustomed to the higher quality and pricing of her products.

After a number of years in business in Albany, Ricarda grew a strong and loyal customer base with many people travelling from Perth to visit the store. In 2006, Ricarda’s daughter Pauline had a strong desire to have her own store, so they opened in Dalkeith, much to the delight of their Perth

customers. The Perth store has moved several times but has since settled in Claremont where Ricarda feels is the perfect place for it to be.

Ricarda opened an online store in 2015, with the assistance of her other daughter, Brenda.

The two stores and their online store are still running successfully to this day. While the growth in online shopping has impacted the stores, Ricarda believes that “while everyone has felt some impact from it, retail stores won’t be going anywhere, anytime soon. People want to feel a part of the community and that’s what her stores do for people. It’s not just about how the clothes look but also how they feel and sit on your body, which is the opportunity retail stores give their customers.”

“Each store is a new picture every week”. Ricarda with her creativity endeavors to “engage the people, and bring them joy and surprises”

We asked Ricarda what was next for her on the horizon and her answer was simple... “just keep going, continue to learn, and open the idea to taking on a business partner!” Ricarda wishes to also spend more time gardening at her Torbay property, and travel to Europe for sourcing brands, meet suppliers and to see her sister who lives in Germany.

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading Ricarda’s story. In addition, Ricarda gave us an incredible array of pictures, designs and textiles from her career. Check out the gallery below.