General News
20 April, 2025
2J's celebrates 20 years of trading
Dimboola's one-stop-shop for gifts and furniture is celebrating 20 years of trading in the community on Sunday April 13.
2J's Furniture and Gifts owner John Combrink was a train driver who moved to Dimboola in 1994 from Ferntree Gully as train drivers were needed in Dimboola at the time.
"I started off building kitchens in Dimboola for the first few years, then decided to start making furniture to sell at Wheatlands in Warracknabeal," Mr Combrink said.
"I did that for about 12 months before deciding to open my own shop."
He then added giftlines later down the track.
"There was no other store like this in town where you could get furniture or gifts," Mr Combrink said.
Originally, he opened the store at 71 Lloyd Street, where he stayed for seven years before shifting it next door to 75 Lloyd Street in 2012 – a move that drew a "great response" from the community.
Mr Combrink said the best memories he'd made so far was all the people he had met along the way, but the business had encountered some challenges as well.
"Dimboola was a very small and quiet down with not a lot of shops open," he said.
Mr Combrink said the Covid pandemic was a challenging time as he was forced to close for a while.
Now, he said, Dimboola was a growing town that was getting "bigger and better with new shops opening".
"I've really enjoyed doing our yearly Christmas barbecue to raise funds for the town," he said.
"I'd like to thank (employees) Wendy and Bree for all their help along the way."
Mr Combrink and his wife Leanne expressed their thanks to the community for its support throughout the past 20 years.
