Handcraft importers open in Woy Woy

A new arm of a wholesale and retail business, Exotic Lifestyles, recently opened on The Boulevarde, Woy Woy.

The business is also located at Gosford and Umina.

Owner Mr Tony Altavilla, said the business imports "unique and exotic-looking" handcrafts from countries including China, Morocco, India and Indonesia.

Tony said that his interest in such handcrafts began as a hobby and now he travels extensively in search of them.

Mr Altavilla said that the business sits well with today's Peninsula which is "more cosmopolitan, lively, and colourful".

The business sells a range of hand-crafted decorative items including urns, mosaic pieces, ornamental kites, partitions, ornamental doors, and tablecloths.

Most of the business' wholesale customers are Sydney-based interior designers, interior decorators, and architects.

Mr Altavilla' s sisters, Amy Crocker and Marsha Hazell, assist Tony with the Woy Woy arm of the business.

Amy, of Booker Bay, is planning study interior design.

She decided on the location and presentation of items in the business' warehouse.

Marsha is assistant manager and keeps the books.

Marsha said that she has loved the career change and saw her new work environment as more than just a business.

"I visit the library and read up on the cultural meaning of the handcrafts we import, to appreciate the beliefs behind them.

"My understanding has been helped by my travels to Indonesia and Bali.

"I have also received knowledge from our customers.

"We draw many interesting people who have travelled extensively and appreciate the handcrafts' cultural meaning.

"The hand-carved rooster, displayed in the warehouse, is associated with the Indonesian cock-fighting tradition and represents sacrificial blood-shedding," she said.

Marsha said that she was pleased that the business was financially assisting many people in difficult economic circumstances in developing countries.

"We need to help them," she said.

Con Orfanos, October 1