Indie store update

Helensburgh H Hardware store owners Mike and Gail Tribe have decided to call it a day and told The Illawarra Mercury they are "sad and disappointed" to close the doors to the business, after 21 years.

It wasn't always this way. When the business was up for sale in 90s, Mr Tribe saw an opportunity after losing his job as a contract driver and despite having no prior experience in retail.

But being in the trades runs in the family with his father who is a carpenter, and his son as a builder. He has been able to learn some tricks of being a tradie.

He said there was a "big increase" in sales over the first 10 years, but that was where it peaked. The couple decided in late 2020 that closing would financially be the best option after a decline in sales. Mr Tribe told The Mercury:

Our trade has decreased dramatically year by year for the last three years. There's no way I can continue.

They were planning to sell the business in the future, but the pandemic had other ideas for them. COVID-19 exacerbated the decrease in sales which meant that staff numbers also needed to be cut. He said:

The only reason we're surviving is because of JobKeeper. We were very grateful that came along to keep us surviving.

Despite JobKeeper, Mr Tribe said there was a slight surge in sales at the beginning of the pandemic with people doing more DIY at home, but it was not enough to survive. He also said that there had been less "shopping local" not just for the hardware store, but other smaller businesses in Helensburgh.

..It's our weekend trade more than anything that has suffered, which means that people are driving past your doorstep to go out of town to shop, which is really, really disappointing.

People need to support the local businesses otherwise there won't be any. There's no customer loyalty anymore.

Not surprisingly, the couple are both sad to leave their community, and their regular customers. Mrs Tribe said:

The community is very friendly. I'll miss the people and I'll probably still come down because I've made so many friends. It's a part of history for Helensburgh.

Mr Tribe believes there will be more inconvenience once the store closes. He said:

I know a lot of regulars that we've got left will certainly miss this because it's a long way to go to a hardware store from Helensburgh.

We help them through any problems, we usually are able to help them out, having done a lot of years of experience in the building trade. There isn't a lot of problems we can't solve for our customers.

However, it is not goodbye for good. Mr Tribe explains:

We will be maintaining the other side of our business, which is the gas deliveries. And see where we go from there.

F.J.'s Discount Tools

Longstanding retail outpost F.J.'s Discount Tools in the Victorian suburbs of Bayswater and Rosebud are shutting down after owners Frank and Sarah Greco decided to close the business after 30 years. Mrs Greco told the Herald Sun:

We've just had enough; we've done it for a very long time and it's time to do something different. We've been here a really long time, and it's hard work, seven days a week.

The couple's Rosebud store has been operating for almost 30 years, while the Bayswater shop opened in 1998. Mrs Greco said their customers had been sad to hear they were closing.

They have said we will be missed, and (the stores) are a destination; we've been here so long, people are like 'We used to come here when we were kids with our dad' and people really love the shops.

Mrs Greco said COVID lockdowns also had an impact on the couple's decision to close.

The lockdown was stressful; we understand it was the right thing to do but it makes it really hard to run your business ... it's tough.

Both the Rosebud and Bayswater stores are well-known for their lifelike mannequins, nicknamed Bob, who models the workwear the business sells and stands out the front.

Mrs Greco said it had been a challenge taking on the bigger hardware chains.

Although Rosebud is such a small community, the Bunnings at Rosebud constantly sends customers to us for stuff they don't have and we constantly send people to Bunnings so there has been a good relationship over the years.

You just try and help people - if you don't have something you should send them to someone who does.

She said her husband knew a lot about tools and could recommend products to customers.

Frank is very handy and the things we get here, he chooses because he uses them and he knows that it's a good thing.

Mrs Greco said the stores would close in the next couple of months, after they had sold the remaining stock from their warehouses. The Bayswater site is now up for sale.

Sources: Illawarra Mercury and Herald Sun (Online)