Photographer Lynda Glover opened the doors to her new studio in Wentworth Street Port Kembla earlier this week.

Ms Glover relocated her business, Pin Up Shots which specialises in 1950s retro and pin up photography, from a warehouse complex in Sydney's Castle Hill, to Port Kembla's revitalised central hub.

Ms Glover's studio recreates a 1950s aesthetic for women - with pin-up clothing, hair and make-up - and then portrait shots are taken.

The shop front will now also enable Ms Glover to sell a range of retro clothing and accessories.

Ms Glover is one of a growing number of independently owned retailers who are establishing themselves in Port Kembla's unique shopping precinct, where there's not a chain store in sight.

Over the past decade, Wentworth Street has been gradually transforming - dusting off its old image as a place of neglect and crime.

The change has been driven by new retailers, with passion and energy, who have moved in and created successful businesses, which has turned the town into a shopping destination with its own vibrancy and profusion of delights.

In the past 12 months, 10 new shops have opened their doors.

If you haven't walked down Wentworth Street in the past few years, you may get a surprise when you do.

"Being a city chick, and having lived in the inner west for the past 15 years, I can see the potential of Port Kembla to become like Leichhardt or Marrickville," said Ms Glover, who is not alone in her view.

Along Wentworth Street there are shops in once vacant buildings (some of which were boarded up in the past) and those shops have been freshly painted with new signage and eye-grabbing window displays.

There are cafes and restaurants with enticing smells.

There are treasures to source in Port Kembla which you won't find in suburban shopping centres: pre-loved clothing, retro home decor, recycled furniture, bridal wear, and even dog grooming.

And most tellingly, there are shoppers on the footpath and parked cars lining the long commercial strip.

As one long-term resident put it, Port is now "no different to Newtown's King Street".

The town's revitalisation has also been spurred by creative and community forces.

No-one underestimates the role the Red Point Artists and the Port Kembla Community Project Inc have played in the changing face of Port Kembla - the organisations behind the famous Billy Cart Derby and the not-for-profit funeral business Tender Funerals.

Oh, and there's another trend which may not be so obvious if you are just visiting as a casual shopper: the new-look Port Kembla, which has been given a lot of TLC, has been largely driven by women and the innovation of female entrepreneurs.

Eighty per cent of businesses are now owned and run by women, who have developed a creative and nurturing community in the town.

Renay Horton, Port Kembla Chamber of Commerce newly elected vice president, has operated her business All Occasion Flowers and Party Hire from Wentworth Street for the past four years.

She chose Port Kembla as her base because it best met her business needs compared to other areas in the Illawarra.

"Port Kembla had more potential and more passion than any place I looked at," she said.

Ms Horton believes the revitalisation has prospered due to the town's strong sense of community and inclusion.

"This is very much about passionate people power and that's why I am proud to be one of these incredible business women," she said.

"It's time for the girls to have a turn. Women have never felt more empowered to step out with their businesses.

"What has been achieved in the street is a very good example of what women can do with a little bit of power and a little bit of knowledge. It's taken us to the next level."

The town's success was as much about the people selling the product, as what was being sold in the shops, Ms Horton said.

"Our shopkeepers are so friendly and so happy to have you come in and wander around their shops and talk to them," she said.

The chamber of commerce also has a female leader in newly elected president Wendy Meyers.

"Wendy is one of the most incredible women I've ever met and she certainly has a a lot of passion for this town," Ms Horton said.

"With people like Wendy leading the way, watch this space."

Sisters Tanya McGee of Cheboom Bridal Boutique and Yolanda Barea of Just Bridesmaids and Formals have been in Wentworth Street for nine years.

The pair relocated their retail space from Wollongong.

"When we first came into the street there were a few little businesses scattered around," said Ms McGee.

"There was a stigma then and we pretty much came against everyone's wishes but we could see the potential.

"We loved the feel of the street, the community was amazing and they were behind us all the way. So when we came we tried to get other local businesses to come on board.

"We did attract some bridal businesses to come into the street and now after nearly 10 years we are getting girls from all over Sydney, Canberra, and as far as Bega coming up to visit us."

Ms McGee said customer service was paramount to the businesses which were largely built up by word of mouth and social media.

"We had to work really hard to attract people here so it was all about the service," she said.

Ms McGee said the tide of change started with the influx of bridal businesses and efforts by the Red Point Artists to make the town an art precinct of national significance, and continues with the latest opening of independent businesses with their eclectic range of products and services.

"All these businesses have now come in and we've got this breath of fresh air, this renewed energy is coming through in waves which is wonderful, so it's kept the momentum going over the past 10 years," she said.

"Where one has started, another one has picked up, and then another one has picked up. It's largely been women."

Ms McGee said Port Kembla offered a central location and affordable commercial rents yet its greatest asset was its strong community base.

"We're a big network here in the street," she said.

"We actually get on which is wonderful.

"And we all have each other's backs which is a different side of retail, and we promote each other's businesses in the street.

"We are always telling customers: 'If you want to go and think about your dress, there's a great coffee shop over there. Have you seen the little shop up the road?"'

Port Kembla was once bustling with five banks, three chemists, a post office and one of two Woolworths in the region. Yet the town had begun a slow decline by the mid 1960s.

Asked if the town could ever reclaim its former glory, Ms McGee thinks not.

"Times have changed and we have created our own little niche here in the street and I don't think it will ever be what it was," she said.

"This is going to be revitalised Port Kembla with a breath of fresh air. You won't find this mix of businesses anywhere else, it's just so eclectic."

Ms Barea opened Just Bridesmaids and Formals three years ago when the bridesmaid side of the business had outgrown the Cheboom premises - the sisters' shops are 300 metres apart.

"We thought: 'We are going to put our money where our mouth is about promoting Port Kembla' and we opened up another store," she said.

"Both businesses were built from scratch with a $500 credit card."

Sydney-born Janette Bryant has owned businesses in Wentworth Street since 1997, drawn to invest in Port Kembla because it reminded her of Newtown and Glebe.

"I could see Port had similarities but that it would take a number of years to clean up and work with various government agencies and then getting the right businesses in with specialty shops," she said.

"I ended up in real estate so I could rent the shops to get the street going."

She credits former Port Kembla Chamber of Commerce member Donna Porcello with "doing up" commercial buildings which had been left shabby and empty for years.

Established businesses such as Tosti Cellars and Tonitto Cakes had shown that commercial success could be achieved in Port Kembla.

"If you've got a good business plan you can succeed in Port Kembla," she said.

Ms Bryant said the future of Port Kembla was bright.

"It's looking rosy, for once I can say it's looking good, especially with a good bunch of women running things, we've got a chance," she said.

"You've got to have a passion to come here and you've got to get over that thing of 'Oh Port'. It's no different to Newtown."

Tammy Mead opened her vintage shop Recycled and Pre Loved 11 months ago.

"I have no previous ties to this area, I came from Sydney," she said.

"But I just loved Port Kembla and the edginess here. It's a little bit raw, quirky, artistic and creative."

Ms Mead said the unity of women in the community had been a large factor in the revitalisation.

"The women are all working together," she said. "We are trying to bring the sense of community back and I think that's what was lacking before.

"Women are naturally nurturing, we are very compassionate and we care about the customers and the locals. We are not just in in it for the money and I think that's the difference - it's not just about everyone feathering their own nest.

"It's about all of us helping to raise the profile of the community."