Outdoors on Parade is celebrating its 40th birthday with weekly specials until the end of the year

When Outdoors on Parade throws a party this April to celebrate four decades in business, it will be a little bigger than most staff parties. “We’re inviting all the staff from the last 40 years, and it’s quite exciting to see everyone replying,” says owner Annie Lovejoy, who is expecting up to 200 attendees and would love any former staff members she hasn’t been able to reach to get in touch. 

“Some of them can remember when there was just a skinny hallway to walk in,” says Lovejoy, who only started displaying outdoor furniture out the back of the single-fronted cottage when she couldn’t find a suitable tenant to rent it out. “I thought I might as well find something to put on the tables to improve their appearance,” she laughs, and over the years the business slowly expanded to include a huge range of homewares, an interior design service and instore café. There’s even a commercial kitchen where South Australia’s best chefs host cooking classes that culminate in a three-course meal with matched wines. 

That constant evolution saw the business presented with the Global Innovation Award for the Best Homewares Store in Australia, and the shopping strip around the business has also changed significantly since 1983. But Lovejoy’s connection with The Parade stretches back even further. “My parents started a real estate business on The Parade when I was five, so I grew up here,” she says. “Back then, there were seven butcher shops between George Street and Edward Street, and groups of gorgeous old Italian and Greek men would sit outside the cafes smoking and talking. A lot of that has gone, but it’s still a wonderful place and it has everything you could need. There’s a football oval, a cinema, a ton of shops and apartments, all in one place.” 

Even as Norwood has changed, Outdoors On Parade has been a constant, and Lovejoy says the secret to the business’ longevity is simple. “We only sell stock that we love, and there’s nothing in here that I wouldn’t love to have in my own house.” It’s why her two children grew up in a home decorated with products from the store, and things have now come full circle with Outdoors On Parade selling her daughter Sophie’s Sant & Abel pyjamas. “In fact,” says Lovejoy proudly, “we have thousands of items in the store, but she’s one of our biggest stockists.” 

To celebrate 40 years in business, Lovejoy is offering special weekly deals for the next 40 weeks - simply follow Outdoors on Parade on Instagram or sign up to the newsletter to make sure you don’t miss out.