With two floors now open and functioning, Lismore's Harvey Norman store is double the shopping fun.

Since the February flood, the store has been operating from the upstairs section only. But after months of work, this week, the lower floor has again opened to the public. 

Sue Hollingworth is the franchisee of the local Harvey Norman store. She said it was a mammoth task getting the place refitted after it being ‘bulldozed’ by the mega-flood.

“It was awful - the water went through roof of the first floor, butut we moved stock upstairs and were able to open again quickly on the second floor,“ Sue said.

“The flood was a double whammy for us, the water also flooded our warehouse by 2.5 metres. Our staff helped clean that out so we could start trading again three weeks after the flood.”

If you visit the new store, there’s a few differences. Now the electrical and fridge section is at the back and the computers and appliances are at the front.

“It was always on the cards for us to fit it out differently – but we never could have imagined it would be because of this,” Sue said.

Sue said the store had retained all the previous staff, as well as recruiting a few new faces to the team to help with the reopening of the shop.

“We want to thank the community for its support and shopping with us,” she said.

“People have been so patient and ordering stock through this store and being happy to wait for weeks till the warehouse was sorted and we could get back on feet.

“Even though we are a franchise location operating under the Harvey Norman brand, Leah and me are the franchisees who live and work locally – it’s not all about Gerry and we appreciate the community’s support.