What a beautiful business

For many years Yarra’s Edge beauty therapist Dita Elmazovski eyed off Papillon Day Spa as an ideal business to own.

“I said to (real estate agent) Glen Lucas, if it ever came up for sale, to contact me straight away,” she said.

Well a few months ago it happened and Dita opened as the new owner of the business on September 17.

Dita bought the business with her sister Linda, who will add hairdressing to an already impressive list of beauty services.

Some 18 months ago, Dita and Linda bought together an apartment in Tower 1. So buying a business together was a natural step to take.

Dita has lived at Yarra’s Edge for six and a half years, having lived for the first five years in Tower 2.

“There was nothing here then. No Webb Bridge, no IGA. I watched them put up towers 3, 4 and 5,” she said.

She now has a three-year-old son, Max.  “It’s such a great, peaceful place to live,” she said.

Dita went straight from school into the beauty business, having attended the National Skin Institute in theCBD and achieving a diploma of health services in beauty therapy.

“Now with Papillon, I can do my own thing,” she said. “I’ve always wanted this salon. It’s so beautiful and it’s so close to home. And I know all the locals.”

Dita and Linda intend to build the business by offering great services at times which suit their customers.

“We can open at 8am if that’s what people want,” Dita said.

Papillon Day Spa is at 84B River Esplanade and can be contacted on 9681 7700 or [email protected]

Glowing reports from the golf course

Michael and Julie Blyth have brought an Australian first to Docklands with their blacklight glow-in-the-dark mini golf at Harbour Town.

The Blyths came across the concept more than two years ago when they started looking for a new business idea.

Up until then they had run a successful fencing business but wanted a business that could eventually run without their day-to-day input.

A holiday experience in Cairns with their four children left them thinking that there must be affordable and stimulating ways to entertain older children.

That led to an online search and discovery of the glow-golf concept which they have now brought to Waterfront City.  Glow-golf is essentially golf in the dark, lit with blacklight UV and accompanied by audio, striking murals and quirky props.

Docklands has been an ideal location for the indoor mini-golf and they now find themselves within an unofficial entertainment precinct in Harbour Town, sharing a first floor location with Monkey Mania and a soon-to-open teenager arcade business.

Michael said one of the most surprising aspects so far has been how much corporate clients have been attracted to the concept.

“We thought we’d be appealing to children’s parties but we’ve been really overwhelmed by interest from the corporate sector,” Mr Blyth said.

“I think this is because it’s not gender-specific.  Everyone can do it and the girls are just as good at it as the boys.”

He said the business was already breaking even in the short time since opening on Grand Final day with people coming from all over Melbourne to try their hand.

The mini-golf course is themed in different aspects of Australian life.

Bookings can me made by calling Michael on 0423 205 003 or online at http://www.glowgolf.com.au

Very old new business

Having been established in 1986, Mediation Communications is hardly a new business.

But the brand identity and design company has just relocated to Docklands after spending the last 11 years in the CBD.

Docklands News editor Shane Scanlan started Mediation when the desktop publishing revolution was building momentum.  Since the late ‘80s the business extended into graphic design and became an early adopter of web technologies in the mid ‘90s.

Brand identity was added to the suite of offerings a few years ago – resulting in a comprehensive range of visual communication services.

Shane and his staff of four operate out of Unit 5, 198 Harbour Esplanade – the LifeLab building.

Shane loves Docklands and lives at Victoria Point. He is a charter member and public relations director of the Rotary Club of Docklands.

“Relocating to Docklands was a natural move for us, considering the synergies which exist with the newspaper,”  Mr Scanlan said.

“We’ve just clocked up our 4000th job which should give new clients comfort that we know what we are doing,” he said.

“We believe we can help any number of Docklands businesses earn more revenue through effective marketing campaigns.”

“We’ll sit down and look at all aspects of their promotional activities from their business cards through to website through to how they may engage via social networking opportunities.”

“An ideal customer for us is a business which does not have dedicated marketing staff but wants to have ultimate confidence that their brand is working for them.”

Since arriving in Docklands, Mediation staff have been on a hunt for the best coffee and muffins available.  See their report opposite.  This will become a regular feature.

Mediation Communications can be contacted on 9602 2992 or [email protected]