One of the city's iconic retailers will continue with the Dalla family to pass on the torch to two local families to continue almost nine decades of dressing Griffith and the region.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Nicola Wilmot, Alex Strano and Helena Strano will become the new owners of Ron Dalla, taking over from Peter and Neva Dalla.
"We're all of the same mind, we're happy to keep an iconic store going in Griffith and for the surrounding region," Mrs Wilmot said.
We're happy to keep an iconic store going in Griffith and for the surrounding region.
- Nicola Wilmot
Reflecting on 87 years of his family business Peter Dalla said there had been many changes in retail in Griffith. His father Ron first opened the doors of his store in 1934 and also ran a dry cleaning business.
"I've been here in retail since I was 20, I've been doing it for 48 years," Peter Dalla said.
"I came here when my father had a stroke, I wasn't aiming to become a retailer - five decades later I'm hanging up my hat."
Over the years Mr Dalla has seen many changes in retail and in Griffith but there's one thing which has always stayed the same - the people.
"When I was at school there were 52 nationalities, it was the most multicultural town in Australia," Mr Dalla said.
"There's an old saying that channel water keeps people here. People come to Griffith, they find a partner, then they're married and they say it's the channel water."
READ MORE
While Mr Dalla wouldn't be running the business in future - he had every confidence the new owners would succeed.
"The best thing about the new owners is they have a diverse skill set and they're looking at a long time frame," Mr Dalla said.
"It's still a local family owned store and both families have a mutli-generational history with Griffith.
"I won't be a stranger to the store and will give them support they need to flourish."
The new owners have begun planning out what they're planning to offer.
"We're excited for the challenge," Alex Strano said.
"We want to make sure the service we to provide is the same or better and we'll have a few new faces in the store but there will be some old faces too."
One of the things which won't change is the store being an signature account for RM Williams. For the time being the store's doors will be closed as the transition to new owners is under way, with a re-opening planned for August.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.areanews.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News