Sage and Silk is styling Kapunda

At the southern end of Kapunda’s Main Street, a new store is bringing the town an extensive selection of colourful garments, with its owner driven by her own love of clothing.

Having only opened in November 2025, Joy Hill and partner Michael Kennelly, of Sage and Silk Boutique, say that the shop has already had a fair amount of business coming through the doors.

Joy, a nurse in aged care at Kapunda and Eudunda, told The Leader that she has a vast collection of dresses at home, and one day decided she was tired of buying them from other retailers.

In what she described as a spur of the moment decision, Joy explained how she made the choice to open the shop at Kapunda.

Although Sage and Silk stemmed from Joy’s own love of dresses and clothing, she also said that she saw a gap in the market at Kapunda for women to buy a nice outfit for their everyday lifestyle.

“I knew I wanted to stock the dresses mainly, because in town, there’s no clothes shops for dresses…so I wanted to go both women’s fashion, and the Ringers Western country clothing brand, which sells quite well,” Joy shared.

The venture is very much a family affair, as Joy works alongside her partner Michael Kennelly, with assistance from her three children as well.

The store is not limited to clothing, with a range of other items available from shoes, socks and underwear to hand creams, jewellery, lip balms, and even supplies like lunchboxes, pencil cases and kids’ back packs.

There is also a range of candles and reed diffusers from Hillary & Co, a local handmade business started by Joy’s daughter.

“She does them all from scratch, and the labels, everything,” Joy shared.

Since opening, Joy says the response from fellow locals has been overwhelmingly positive, many of them sharing Joy’s enthusiasm to have a local store to buy dresses from.

“A lot of them have said they’re glad this shop is here,” Joy said, also sharing how a lot of customers have been very pleased to see her after recognising her from her nursing roles.

With the store’s home base well-stocked with fashionable clothing, Joy and Michael are also taking the business on the road, setting up Ringers Western Pop Ups at the recent Marrabel Bull Ride and Riverbend Rodeo at Murray Bridge, and have plans to take both the Ringers Western and Sage and Silk ladies’ fashion to the Broken Hill Ag Fair later this year.