It is the end of an era for father and son team Nick and Brian Wallace who are sadly closing the doors of their Home Timber and Hardware business after 30 years of trading in Busselton.
Brian said for the last 13 years they had been competing against Bunnings, and saw a dramatic loss of customers over the last year which no longer made it viable to run.
“The line in the sand got crossed and we decided to call it a day,” he said.
Brian said his father Nick bought the business around 1986, the original store was called Prince Street Hardware and occupied the building where Target is now located.
He said the business was so successful that they outgrew the building and had to look for a new location so they could meet demand.
“My father spent two or three years looking for land where he could build a bigger store and ended up buying all the houses along here,” he said.
“He built the building and we had one very successful year trading out of here before Bunnings opened and it has not been easy since.
“Unfortunately it is the evolution of the industry.”
Brian said the employees at the store were feeling a bit down and that a number of employees had been there since the business started.
“It broke dad’s heart, 30 years he has been doing this, I have been in the business for more than 10 years and it has not been an easy thing,” he said.
“Malcolm has worked with us for over 30 years, Colin and Pat have been with us for over 20 years, Ryan in our garden centre has been with us for 20 years and Debbie in our office has been with us for almost 18 years.
“We have a lot of staff who have been so dedicated and so loyal for so many years that it is not easy because we feel like we are letting them down to a degree.
“We will all move onto different things and move onto better things.”
They expect the store to remain open for over the next six weeks and are encouraging the community to take advantage of their closing down sale.
Some items have been marked up to 40 per cent off and Brian said they would increase the discounting as time went by.
“Everything is for sale and everything must go - even our racking and fixtures are for sale - we need to vacate the building” he said.
“People need to come in and see what bargains they can find.
“I encourage everyone to come in we had fantastic support from the community for 30 years and I would like them to support us for another six weeks by making our closing down sale a success.”
