1950
23 February 1950
BUSINESS CHANGE
Messrs. H. O. Haynes and Sons, Pty. Ltd., have purchased from Messrs. W. Kellett and Sons their store at Cassilis which they had conducted for many years. The acquisition of the business was completed on Monday of last week, and it is understood that all the staff engaged at the store will be retained by Messrs. Haynes and Sons1
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1972
25 February 1972
TOWN TRIES TO AVERT CLOSING OF MAIN STORE
(From our Cassilis correspondent)
What is it they say, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year?
It has been a very bleak and disappointing New Year to date for with in the space of a couple of months Cassilis has lost the services of a full-time banking service and now we learn that as from March 4, the G. J. Coles Pty. Ltd. owned and operated by (H. O. Haynes and Sons) general store at Cassilis will cease trading operations.
Employing a staff of eight on full time it is nothing short of a catastrophe for this village to lose this, its only general store and the largest employer of labour outside Dalkeith Pty. Ltd.
Reasons given by the firm of G. J. Coles Pty. Ltd. as the reasons for closing the store are the population drift away from the district, the steady decline in profits particularly since 1970 along with the usual hazards experienced with the running of a country store.
A public meeting of all interested persons concerned with the closing of the store, drew a capacity crowd of people to the Community Hall on Tuesday night.
Convened and Chaired by Mr. Alec Busby of Cassilis station, the meeting called for individual persons to write a letter of protest to the head office of G. J. Coles chain stores in Melbourne.
A petition was drawn up with the signatures of all persons in the Cassilis district affected by the closing of the store.
This petition will be sent to Melbourne also and together with the letters of protest, this community might well keep the store open temporarily at least.
Many suggestions have been put forward as to ways and means of keeping the business going including that of forming a co-operative society to purchase the business and run it along the lines of the numerous co-op stores in small country towns where the chain stores have no interest because of the small turnover.
It does appear at this stage that this community will have to think along the lines of similar communities and help ourselves by forming a co-operative society.
But right now it’s a case of wait and see.
Speakers at the meeting included the president of the Merriwa Shire, Mr. Brian Hegarty, Councillor David Morrow, C. B. Bettington and others.
At the close of the meeting people were invited to discuss their views with a representative of G. J. Coles present on the night2
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3 March 1972
NEW OWNERS WILL RE-OPEN STORE
Haynes general store at Cassilis will open the doors for the last time tomorrow and cease trading in the Cassilis area at midday.
However, the town and district surrounding Cassilis is pleased that the store will be opened once again at a date to be announced and carry out trading along the same lines as the previous owners.
G. J. Coles Pty. Ltd. which has carried out the business in Cassilis for the past 10 years, announced that a tender for the purchase of the store by Mr. Lawrence Riley has been accepted.
Mr. Riley and his brothers, all of Cassilis are making arrangements to take over the store and reopen the business later in the month, or next month.
A public meeting was held at Cassilis last month to protest about the closing of the store.
It was pointed out that the store closed down because property owners and residents of the area bypassed the store and shopped in larger centres such as Mudgee or Merriwa.
One housewife in Cassilis said Cassilis people had learned the hard way.
Now promises of support for the new owners of the store were being given on all sides.
The public meeting was told by speakers that the closing of Haynes Store was the classic example of people taking their shopping and business outside the area.
The store at Cassilis has given continuous service since it was built in 1913 when Kelletts of Mudgee opened a branch there.
The Guardian asked the General Manager of Coles in Sydney, Mr. J. C. Henessey, whether it was the policy of Coles to close its general stores in its country division.
However, Mr. Henessey said he “was not at liberty” to make any statements concerning the closing of the Cassilis store of policy matters.
Coles run general stores at Coolah, Dunedoo and Mendooran. People in these centres fear their stores will suffer the same fate as Cassilis’ Haynes.
G. J. Coles Pty. Ltd. country division bought the store in 1961 but continued with the trade name of H. O. Haynes and Son.
Haynes at Cassilis has employed nine people.
It has been managed by Mr. Ted Manning, of Coolah.
Mr. Manning said yesterday that all employees have been offered positions with Coles’ branches.
He said he would be attached to the relieving managerial staff.
Mr. Manning said the staff would be enlarged for some weeks arranging the dispersal of the stock.
Mr. Malcolm Kellett said in Mudgee this week, that the Cassilis branch was opened on the recommendation of the late Henry O. Bensley, an employee of the store who took Kelletts delivery cart to that area.
Kelletts held the store until the 1950s, when the business was sold to Mathew Thompson, a wholesales firm, which had also bought up the Haynes stores at Dunedoo and Coolah.
Mr. Vin Parrot, is a senior member of the staff and is head of the Hardware Department has been employed for 21 years with Haynes Store, in Cassilis.
He said when he joined the Staff there were 12 employed at the store.
He said these were the times of the big wool prices.
“I would like to see these times again” he told the Guardian3
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