Welcome to Boo Boo's

We are a ladies fashion store at the Strand in beautiful Coolangatta that prides itself as having something for every lady. The beautiful and relaxing vibe of the Gold Coast beaches inspires the casual and flowy nature of our clothes, with a touch of bling for the nightlife. We have a large range of sizes and styles to choose from, that keep locals and tourists from around the world coming back for over 30 years.

Meet our Founders

Allan Pepperdene	Connie Pepperdene

Boo Boo's was officially founded in 1984 by Connie and Allan Pepperdene. The initial aim was to provide an income that supported their family, while allowing them to work from home, so they could look after their children.

History

The Birth of Boo Boo's

The business itself formed by accident. They took various sewing jobs, which they could do at home. Unfortunately, the income was inconsistent, possibly due to the early 1980's recession.

"Recession is just a word. There's always something going on in the world. You have to try things. If it doesn't work, you try something else." - Connie
"Yeah." - Allan

One day, they had the brilliant idea to start making and selling their own clothes. The birth of Boo Boo's - named after their most recent child, Boo Boo. They would sew all week until they were too tired to remember which side the splits were meant to be on. On Sunday, they went to the markets with their homemade mini dresses and kids tops to sell their clothes. Those days were long and hot. They sold at the Sunday markets from Gold Coast to Brisbane, including the still popular Carrara markets.

The Evolution

Eventually they moved into all-week markets, including those that once existed at the famous Australia Fair and Sundale Shopping Centres. During this time, they honed their skills, bought better and faster equipment, and increased their product range to also include midi and maxi dresses, "suits" (matching tops and skirts or culottes or bike shorts, and tracksuits), sports shirts and transferred t-shirts. Their clothes were sold to other stores around Australia, as well. Connie still wears some of these clothes. (Boo Boo outgrew hers.)

Once weekend trading in regular shops started to become the norm, the markets became less successful, forcing Boo Boo's to move into a proper shop for security. Over the years, they had shops in various locations on the Gold Coast and even going as far as Caloundra and Toowoomba. They continued to make their own clothes for a while. In time, it became harder to obtain the quality fabrics they required and is was cheaper to buy clothes from other countries, than it was to make them here in Australia. This is possibly due to the reforms affecting the textile and clothing industry that occurred during the late 1980's-early 1990's recession, as well as other factors.

"I'm home" - Boo Boo's

Eventually, Boo Boo's settled into its current home in beautiful Coolangatta, where it caters to tourists and locals alike. These days they sell a wide range of styles of dresses, tops, skirts, pants, and accessories, which include hats, scarves, jewellery, belts and shoes. This mum and pop business has seen and adapted to the many changes over the years. Not only in the ever-changing fashion industry, but also with the various recessions, financial crises, high interest rates, pilot strikes (no pilots = no incoming tourists), reforms and recently the Covid-19 pandemic. Their success is due to their guiding principles: