Brian and Helen Kelly have sold Kelly’s Friendly Grocer after being in the business for 46 years.

The Kellys have been at Coleambally since the beginning.

They raised their seven kids in Coly and have seen four generations come through their doors.

Brian had been contemplating retirement for the last 12 months.

The Kellys decided to sell the supermarket after consulting with their family.

“Its a hard decision to make, you've built something from the ground floor,” Brian said.

“A couple of months ago we sat down with the family and decided, I’m 71, I want to enjoy myself.

“I’ve got horses running around and I can’t see them half the time because I can’t get away.”

Retirement gives Brian the chance to not only see his horses race around but also to explore.

There are plans in motion already for how the Kellys will spend their new found free time.

“Brian’s a bit of a train freak and hopefully we can do The Rockies, perhaps we can go to Ireland,” Helen said.

“The children, as we speak, are organising a long weekend for the whole family.

“The whole seven (children) with their partners and their children.

“We’ll be popping into a resort somewhere, we’re all going to be there together.”

Brian and Helen will be joined in retirement by another long-standing staff member, Graham Staff.

Graham has worked at Kelly’s Supermarket for 42 years in total.

He was there at the beginning in 1969 and spent a couple years away before he returned to the business.

Brian counts Graham as one of his most reliable workers as well as one of his oldest friends.

“We grew up as schoolmates in Whitton. We went to high school and played football together,” Brian said.

“He worked for Coles and he eventually came out here in 1969. 

“He helped us kick the supermarket into gear.

“He’s been a very loyal, reliable fella.”

Community spirit is the backbone of the supermarket. 

Whenever a store left town Brian had to reopen it, according to Helen.

On three occasions, with the cafe, clothing store and nursery, the Kellys quickly reopened the closed stores.

From sponsoring sporting sides to keeping people afloat via credit for their store, the Kellys are always willing to help.

However, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for Brian and Helen.

They had to contend with a lack of money along with running a grocery store for the first time early on.

“Initiation was hard times, its not real easy when you're starting off a business,” Brian said.

“We never had a lot of finances and things were tough, we had to do a lot of long hours.”

Helen remembers many things from the early days but some stick out more than others.

“We used to have to go to Griffith. I used to go in the car and pick up butter, biscuits, wine,” Helen said.

“I used to have to take the seat out of the vehicle and everything would be stacked all around me.

“Our first day of opening was an absolute nightmare.

“Everybody was that excited, they thought it was the start of the world.

“We had people lined up and we had one cash register.”

Despite the tough times, the Kellys wouldn’t trade any of it.

“It has been worth it, it has been an amazing journey,” Helen said.

The name of the store and the staff will remain the same.

Helen hoped Coleambally residents treated the new owners the way they had been treated over the years.

“We hope that our loyal customers will be loyal to the new owners,” Helen said.

“Very little’s going to change except Brian won’t be behind that little desk, someone else will be.

“We took the risk and invested in Coleambally, they (new owners) are doing exactly the same thing.”