By Lyndsey Wetton, Fremantle-Cockburn Gazette
A SHOP specialising in products for African residents across Cockburn has opened in Hamilton Hill.
When proprietor Pamela Browne immigrated to Australia three years ago, she found it difficult to find the authentic African food, clothing and cosmetics she was used to. So she decided to open a shop in Cockburn, responding to an increase in African residents in the area.
“Three years ago, when I came here, it was very hard because we were used to the spicy African food.
“We had to go to all the way to the city to buy those foods and several other things, on public transport.
“Now it is easier for people here to feel at home,” she said.
Mella, at the Hamilton Hill Plaza on Rockingham Road, sells a range of products from cosmetics, cooking oils and ingredients, African DVDs and CDs and traditional apparel.
And the back of the shop has been converted into a hair salon where services for customers include braiding, cornrows and dreadlocks.