It had been an integral part of community life at South Kempsey for as long as most residents could remember. 

Business owners Ruth and Michael Worthing ran the shop for 26 years.

They said the shop was closing because they could not sell it as a going concern.

“There wasn’t really any interest from anyone to take over the shop as it is, so unfortunately we are closing the doors and moving on,” Mr Worthing said.

“It is a real shame for the people around here because the shop provides a lot of services to the local community like a public phone and an ATM which will be missed.

“Not to mention the milk, bread, newspapers, hot food and all the other things.”

Mrs Worthing said it had not been all happy times at the shop, but the good far outweighed the bad.

“The atmosphere in the shop is more like a community centre than a business,” she said.

“The locals would come in for a cuppa and a chat, for a laugh and also to grieve when a loved one had passed away.

“They also knew they could come in and get a feed or some necessities and pay when they had the money. 

“And you know what, they all came back and paid in full.”

The high cost of electricity and the general economic conditions were largely responsible for the shop not attracting a buyer.

“I don’t know whether the government fully realises the true impact high power prices are having on small business,” Mr Worthing said.

“It is a triple pronged problem. Our power bills go up, the suppliers’ power bills go up so it costs us more to buy stock, and the customers have less money to spend because their bills have gone up.”

The Worthings paid tribute to their hard working staff who had kept the business going through the years.

“They really have been the reason for the shop’s survival and success and we can’t thank them enough for their loyalty and hard work,” Mrs Worthing said.

Mr Worthing was looking forward to “semi-retirement”.

“After more than a quarter of a century it is time to stop but it seems to have passed so quickly,” he said.

“Sure we have had some problems but these were caused by a minority and what they did upset our customers as much as us.

“But in the end it is just time to let go of working so hard and go and join the grey nomads.”