Home & Castle Hardware store in New Brighton has announced its closure, marking the end of an era in the seaside suburb.

The store is set to shut down permanently on Saturday, February 3rd.

Dennis Shrimpton, the store’s owner, told Chris Lynch Media that despite the business’s robust performance, efforts to find new proprietors had been unsuccessful.

“People have assumed I was struggling against the big boys, but that wasn’t the case.

“The business was actually doing very well, and I was surprised no one looked at the books.

“I was working sole-charge for 6 days a week and it was getting too much and there wasn’t much point employing new staff when I was looking to sell.”

Dennis said at 69 he was looking forward to spending time with his grandson who was due to be born in Perth in April.

“I feel lucky, I had very loyal customers over the seven years, and the comments on a local Facebook page have been wonderful.”