After seven years of trade, Kerrie has closed the doors on Kerrie's Garden Nikity Naks for the last time on 11 July, farewelling loyal customers and locals who became friends along the way. Kerrie opened her first shop on Marsden Street, between the Guild Hall and the newsagent, in October 2019. What was intended to be a three-month arrangement stretched into a seven-year run that saw the business move locations twice, expand its range and become a fixture of the town. The idea began when Kerrie bought a batch of concrete garden ornaments to sell at local markets. She soon found them too heavy to keep loading and unloading each week, prompting her to look for a short-term shop front instead. From there, the business grew to include a wider range of garden ornaments and clothing. At the end of 2022, Kerrie relocated across the road to the old bakery, before moving again in March 2023 to her most recent premises on Pudman Street. Each move brought a new addition to the shop, with balloons introduced after the crossing to the old bakery, and a lolly shop added once she settled into the Pudman Street location. Reflecting on her time in business, Kerrie said her fondest memories were the everyday conversations shared with locals and tourists alike, seated on what regulars affectionately dubbed the "bench of wisdom" or the "bench of bull", depending on who happened to be sitting beside her. Her father Arthur was often among those keeping her company on the bench, calling in for lunch whenever the shop was open. Arthur died at the end of May, and Kerrie said no longer having him drop down for lunch made the decision to close that little bit easier. Asked what she might do differently; Kerrie pointed to the challenges of competing with online shopping and the lack of government assistance available to small businesses. She also said that, if given the choice, she would have preferred to keep her store on Marsden Street. In a social media post announcing her final day of trade, Kerrie thanked her family for their help with the many shops moves over the years, as well as the wider community for its support. She said she would miss the daily chats on the bench outside her shop and joked that customers calling in on her last day would never know what bargain they might find.
