Mia Cipolla never really planned to open a store, but something happened when she walked past her local shop and saw it was going to close.
Terrified of it being turned into anything but, she made a leap of faith and decided to create her own version of the general store.
“I said yes. I just went for it,” says owner Mia.
Unlike many general stores, Darlo General focuses on fresh home cooked meals, and also serves as a café. Darlo General offers a carefully selected array of boutique home goods and beauty products, that are laboriously researched by Mia.
The store provides an array of baked goods, sandwiches and take-home meals. Mia says: “All of the home baked things are made by a local lady who has set up a commercial kitchen in her home.”
“Her business hasn’t launched yet, but I was just lucky to meet her before and she’s been working and providing all of our beautiful cakes and slices and all the ingredients that go into the sandwiches.”
Darlo General revolves around its community and seeks to be a place for socialising, events, support.
Mia says: “I think that community always comes first. I’m really strong on providing a place where people feel like it’s theirs and they are welcome, and we have events in here. We’ve started having a book club here every month and that’s been really successful.”
The business also holds a number of talks open to the community, as well as providing packed lunches for students at Darlinghurst Public School.
Darlo General is the perfect encapsulation of Darlinghurst. Community driven, aesthetic and an excellent meeting place, the store has quickly become a favourite for locals.
Says Mia: “I think we’re very unique in the whole set up of the shop… What’s unique about our business is that it is a general store, but it just has this huge twist to it, where it’s more than just a general store.”
Darlo General is located at 48 Womerah Ave, Darlinghurst, Sydney and is open 7am-7pm every day. https://www.darlogeneral.com/
