Genki, that old faithful Melbourne indy store shut up shop at the bottom of the Nicholas Building. And now, in its place we have a brand new Lenko store.

Dana Lenko has brought her brand of creative retail down from the heights of Melbourne Central, and into ye olde schmatte district of Flinders Lane. The store is brighter and more open than the old Genki, and its tall walls are covered with murals down by Dana and a friend.

Seven second review: the kids love it. Mutterings among the beery and happy crowd on a wintery opening night went something like this: ”Great move.” “Great location” “She’ll never look back.” “Can you get me another Coopers?” "Is that guy wearing a real fox fur?"

Lenko says the store in Melbourne Central “pretty much runs itself. RMIT is up there and it has a really good following of people who keep coming back.” So no moves to close that one. But in this one, she's planning plenty of murals, and will stock loads of Lenko T-shirts, Limedrop, Chip Chop, I Heard They Eat Cigarettes, Formally Known As and a good assortment of plush handmade toys.

So why were half the guests from Eltham? Possibly because they're striking and creative. Really, no-one knew, but it was very "Montsalvat", if you dig.

Lenko, shop 5 Cathedral Place, Nicholas Building, next to Alice Euphemia, Melbourne.
Genki, now online.