Opening the doors to Common Circus at Belmont in 2014 was the realisation of a dream for Lauren Henry.
She had been working in fashion design and would drive to Newcastle from her home in Cronulla every weekend, looking for the right location.
Both her mother and her partner had grown up in Newcastle, so she was familiar with the city, and Newcastle property prices were a lot friendlier than Sydney's.
"Opening a store felt a little more achievable up here," Ms Henry said.
"Then I spotted the Belmont space. It was empty but it wasn't on the market, so I hounded the owner for weeks until he let me have it."
She opened Common Circus at 36 Brooks Parade on October 24, 2014, quickly gaining a loyal coffee-loving following. It wasn't long before she added homewares and gifts to the offering, attracting passers-by to what had become a community hub on the east side of Lake Macquarie.
At its peak, Common Circus at Belmont was selling a coffee every 30 seconds.
Did she have a plan in mind, or was she flying by the seat of her pants?
"A bit of both," Ms Henry replied.
"I'd been working on a business plan for months prior to leaving Sydney, I had pictures all over my apartment ... pages and pages of goals and ideas. I wanted to prove to people that I had concrete plans and had costed them and was not just being my usual creative self."
In 2021 Ms Henry opened a flagship Common Circus store on Dixon Street, Hamilton, which focused more on the retail side of the business. Three years and two children later, she closed Common Circus at Belmont and turned her attention to growing the Hamilton store.
The Brooks Parade space was taken over by the Gleeson family, of Glee Coffee Roasters fame, and continues to trade as coffee cafe Good One.
Earlier this year Ms Henry announced she would be closing the Hamilton store and transitioning Common Circus to an online-only store. An unexpected rent increase had "landed on her lap" via email in November and pulled the rug out from under her.
"I would never have thought of pivoting or changing the business but that email made me realise how hard everything was getting, in terms of trading as a small business," she said.
"I had a chat with my accountant around that time - he's amazing - and he said 'We're gonna have to work hard' and I just looked at him and said 'I have been. I've been busting my gut ever since my second child was born'.
"When he said that I was like 'I don't know if I can keep pushing shit up a hill', for lack of a better term. It's not that I wasn't motivated or invested, I just didn't see the point.
"The online part of the business was already doing really well and had growth year after year, so it was something I knew I could continue to grow and develop, while still involving myself locally in the community.
"It was always the idea to have pop-ups and still connect with our local community in different ways."
Ms Henry now has a small team of three, as opposed to 35 when the shopfronts were open, and posts to customers in Australia and New Zealand.
"We've tried to ensure our quality and customer service is still there," she said.
"Common Circus had three pretty big arms in retail, cafe and online, and you couldn't take your eye off one of them.
"I decided that doing less and making more would be the way forward, and thought it would be an easy transition to online only, but there have been a lot of things I didn't foresee or think about.
"It has been a pretty massive learning curve this year.
"The stock we hold, how I reach my market, how I communicate to my market ... all of those things have changed, and everything happened so fast that I didn't really have time to think it out as much as I would have liked."
What are some of the day-to-day challenges she has encountered running an online business?
"Cash flow has been a big one. Also, just the transition itself, going from a physical store with lots of foot traffic and impulse buying to a world where I'm the only one selling," she said.
"Downsizing to three staff means I have taken back the marketing and the website and all of those things, so a lot more is back on my plate, on my desk. I enjoy that part of it, though. It's been nice to understand every aspect of the business again, and to feel like I'm in the driver's seat."
Common Circus will be "popping up" on Glebe Road at Adamstown, right next door to Local Customs, from October through to January, much to the delight of its many local customers.
"The opportunity pretty much fell into my lap," Ms Henry said.
"The boys from Local Customs have been really cool to collaborate with, and it's an awesome spot - it feels very similar to what we've just left in terms of coffee and community and the park across the road. And it's only a stone's throw from Hamilton as well."
What has this year taught her, as a business owner? To identify her skill set and continue being creative.
"I've done a lot of work around what it is that people love about us," she said.
"This year's been hard for a lot of people, including me, and I think things like gifting and shopping should be fun. I'm trying to bring back the whimsy and the magic and the creative element to shopping, rather than just going to a big chain store where it's just about money rather than individual service."
And her advice to others? Find what makes your offering unique, and understand why you are doing it.
"I've spent a lot of time this year just trying to figure out who I am as a business owner. My business had been running for 12 years, and I essentially broke it all the way back down in terms of staff and where we are and what we do. Figure out how to lead in the most authentic way to yourself, and look for inspiration and creativity, but not just with your competitors or the industry you're in."
The Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) Poo Palace has won the "Experiential and Event Marketing" category at the 2026 Australian Marketing Institute Marketing Excellence Awards. The Poo Palace takes children inside the human digestive system where they meet HMRI's "poo professors" and learn about gut health without the embarrassment or awkwardness that can come with talking about it. More than 3000 children have explored the Poo Palace since it was created by HMRI and the University of Newcastle's Gastrointestinal Research Group in 2023.
Newcastle Flower Markets is moving from Sandgate to Beresfield at the end of the year.
"It's time," founder Jess Eckford-Aguilera said.
"Sandgate has given us so much. We gave that space absolutely everything we had, and I will always be incredibly grateful for the opportunities, connections, friendships and loyal clients who walked through those doors. But I also know when it's time to evolve. We are ready for something of our own. We are ready to call somewhere home."
At the new Beresfield premises, Ms Eckford-Aguilera and her team will focus on weddings, events and celebration flowers. Wedding consultations will become exclusively appointment-based, allowing couples a more personal experience while planning the floral vision for their day.
Couples will also be able to visit the new space to browse a curated collection of stylish decor and event add-ons, bringing flowers and styling together under one roof.
Newcastle Flower School will also make the move to Beresfield.
Battery World Gateshead owner Jared Cox has taken home two awards at the Battery World 2026 National Conference in Brisbane. He won the "Highest Percentage Sales Increase on Last Year" and "Highest Percentage Increase in Automotive Battery Units" categories.
