Ladysmith Store and Licensed Post Office to cease trading

Carolyn Leman has run The Ladysmith Store and Licensed Post Office for the past four-and-a-half years, but will open for the final time on March 31.

The closure will also affect Australia Post mail services in the village.

The business had previously been up for sale but there was no successful buyer.

A heartbroken Mrs Leman said it was not only sad news for the community but also for her family, who had given up everything to take on the business.

IN OTHER NEWS:

"We moved 12 hours away to live in the village to run the store, thinking that this was going to be our life," she said.

"It's a huge loss for the village, it's sad for the residents out here but I have literally not been making a living."

Mrs Leman said COVID-19 had a major impact on the business and started its demise, but with costs soaring things have become unmanageable.

"We've struggled with our small business since COVID-19 and, after that, with the cost of living and people not coming to us to buy things," she said.

Mrs Leman has urged people to support their small local businesses, so others in the same boat as her won't have to make the same hard decision. "We're not the only business struggling, there are a lot of small businesses struggling Australia-wide," she said.

"We are brave enough to close down because we needed to do that, but there are a lot of people struggling and that then affects people's mental health.

"The short story is: people need to look after and support their little shops."

The closure of the store means people will also now have to travel about 12 kilometres into Forest Hill to access a post office.

Australia Post sent letters out to Ladysmith residents on March 10 informing them of the store's closure and stating that a new service would be made available to residents.

Residents will now have access to twice-weekly roadside delivery service, with their letters to be taken to their homes on Tuesdays and Thursdays - as long as they provide suitable mailboxes.

Suitable mailboxes would have the residence's number on them, be big enough to store letters and preferably have locks, and must be visible from the road.

Ladysmith residents will need to travel to the Forest Hill Post Office to collect any parcels.

Australia Post said people who know they are expecting a parcel will also be able to designate a post office they would like to pick it up from.

An Australia Post spokesperson said ahead of the closure they would like to thank the outgoing licensees for their dedicated service to the community.

"From Tuesday, April 4, roadside delivery for letters will be introduced two days a week for the Ladysmith township, and we are asking residents to make sure they have a suitable mailbox at their property," the spokesperson said.

"Parcels for Ladysmith addresses will be redirected to the Forest Hill post office, an eight-minute drive away.

"We also encourage locals to consider our Parcel Collect service, which allows customers to pick up parcels from their post office of choice."

Australia Post said it commenced an expressions of interest process to try and retain a presence in Ladysmith prior to the closure of the post office. However, the spokesperson said no expressions of interest were received from local businesses wishing to provide postal services to the community.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: