During her first trip to Japan almost nine years ago, Tara Bennett was inspired by the country’s incredible history and unique approach to preservation and sustainability. So much so that when she returned home to Australia, she quit her men’s fast fashion job to open Provider Store — a business dedicated to acquiring and creating lasting pieces for the home and championing ethical manufacturing and smart purchasing.

“What really resonated with me was how the Japanese really celebrate craftsmanship and how in Australia, it’s not something that we really highlight,” Tara says. “In Japan, it’s so special. For example, if you buy a table and that table gets old, you don’t buy a new one. You celebrate the imperfections.”

Tara started Provider Store in 2014, selling her own textiles and candles wholesale and online before eventually opening her shop in Sydney’s Surry Hills in 2018.

Today, her store is home to everything from timber miso bowls to hibachi buckets and hand-built ceramics. There’s even a Shiba Inu (Japanese hunting dog) called Pocari, often waiting to greet guests at the front door.

“It was always something that I knew I wanted,” Tara says, of starting her own business. “I didn’t set out to base my business around Japan, but it [her trip] was really eye-opening and made me feel very inspired and motivated to bring the ethos back to Australia.”

While there are more and more stores focusing on slow-produce and ethical manufacturing, Provider Stores is unique in its approach to sharing the story, history and tradition behind each item it stocks.

In doing this, Tara believes we can create a deeper and longer-lasting relationship with what we buy.

“I’ve been to the factories of small makers, met them in person, learned their stories and sometimes spent the day learning about how they built a kiln in their backyard,” Tara explains.

“I think it is important these days where everything is fast and gets very expensive, it is nice to pare back and see where things have come from and who made it. It means you might look after it better or pass it on.”

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Tara would visit Japan twice a year to meet new and existing makers, learning their skills and experience so that she could later share their stories. Each item online has a picture of the maker or factory, a map of where the product is made in Japan, or a small blurb explaining the history or tradition.

There are cotton Noren curtains crafted for inns and hotels around the country, papier-mache sea bream fish created to wish for safe delivery and child growth, and timber toys from a workshop founded in the late Edo period.

“I would go over there with a backpack and basically ride my bike through the streets and meet people and try to speak broken Japanese, or get Google Translate to help me build a relationship with them. And a lot of the time — it worked.”

Tara’s unique approach to business even caught the eyes of the Japanese External Trade Organisation (JETRO)
— a government-related organisation that promotes mutual trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world.

The organisation continues to back her business, helping set up meetings with local craftspeople and supporting Tara with the day-to-day logistics such as transport and translators.

“I think the point of difference is that I’m not trying to sell these things as my own brand,” she says. “I celebrate and talk about each individual person I work with, so when we bring those items home, I can re-tell that story.”

Simone Ziaziaris is a freelance journalist from Sydney who loves writing about the arts, sustainability and human rights. When she isn’t at her computer typing, she is out and about taking film photos. Take
a sneak peek at her work @simoneziaziaris on Instagram.