After more than three decades running Summerland Tool Supplies, owner Butch Verardo has announced he will close the business next June, marking the end of a long chapter for a family-built operation with deep ties to Lismore.

Butch opened Summerland Tool Supplies in 1989, growing it steadily into a specialist store known for hard-to-find stock and straight-up advice. Now 67, he says the decision to close hasn’t come easily, but it’s one he feels ready to make.

“I started the business from scratch and built it up to what it is now,” he said. “You don’t build that overnight. But I’ve turned 67 and I want to smell the roses. I want to go travelling around Australia while I can, while my wife Mary is still good.”

The business relocated to Casino following the devastating 2022 floods, a move driven by necessity rather than choice. Butch said there was no way he could risk rebuilding again in a flood-prone area.

“There was no way I was going back into a flood area,” he said. “At least in Casino we’ve got no flood. And our customers came with us. We still deliver to Lismore, Ballina and Byron Bay, we’ve still got a really solid clientele.”

While the Casino move proved successful, Butch said ongoing changes in the business landscape have made it increasingly difficult to find someone willing to take the business on.

“I’ve had it on the market for a while,” he said. “People don’t want to buy businesses anymore. They want to work for somebody else. The banks aren’t lending, people haven’t got the money, and it seems no one wants to stick their neck out.”

Despite holding close to $900,000 worth of stock and an established customer base, he said interest from potential buyers has been minimal, a reality he believes many independent retailers are facing.

“We’ve got the knowledge,” he said. “I’ve been in this industry for 38 years. People come to us because the big stores don’t know what they’re talking about. We’re a proper tool store.”

The decision to wind things down has also been shaped by the emotional toll of the floods, which Butch says changed everything for his family.

“We lost so much,” he said. “Everything we worked for was just ruined. Mary hasn’t been the same since. That flood really stayed with us.”

Born and bred in Lismore, Butch comes from a long line of local business owners, with his family history in the town stretching back generations.

“My father was in business in Lismore,” he said. “It’s hard to think my business won’t be there anymore, but sometimes you don’t have a choice.”

Summerland Tool Supplies will continue trading until June, with stock to be cleared and the door still open should a buyer come forward.

“If someone wants to have a go, I’m open to it,” Butch said. “But if not, it’s time to take Mary around Australia in the motorhome and do something different.”

For many in Lismore, his story reflects a familiar mix of resilience, loss and tough decisions -the quiet closing of a long-standing local business shaped by the floods and the changing realities of regional life.