It was two weeks ago that Lombardo's Fruit Market was sold after 50 years of trading to the people of Goonellabah and surrounding areas (Lombardo's sold after 50 years at Goonellabah).

Enter the new owners, Daniel and Laura Sproule who have started to put their own stamp on their new business including the name, which is now 'the smashed av produce market'.

Daniel has a long history in the fruit and veg market. While he was in Year 11 at Kadina High School, Daniel started work at Farmer Charlies as his first job before moving to the Gold Coast and working at another fruit shop. It was at that fruit shop that Daniel met Laura, who was also working there.

"I would never go back," Laura said, "I'm definitely more accustomed to country life now compared to the Gold Coast. I love it down here."

Daniel spent about two and bit years on the Gold Coast before Farmer Charlies asked him to come back.

"Barry was retiring, he was the original owner and manager at the time. So, I came down and worked for him since 2016, managing the store for the last four or five years."

When Daniel and Laura heard that Lombardo's was up for sale, they explained this was to good an opportunity to pass up.

"The shop is a stone's throw from our house, it's out of flood and we get to call it our own," Daniel said.

"We always wanted to own our own business and the fact that I have a background in this, and basically all I've ever done, I thought it's a good opportunity. How often does a family business for 50 years come up for sale, and it gets offered to you. Yeah, we would have been silly not to take it on I think."

Lombardo's was such a family business with first Joan and Vince's kids running around the store to grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Will Daniel and Laura adopt that same principle?

"Our little Harold is almost two and he will become familiar face around here along with us and if there's more kids to follow, it'll be the same," Daniel said.

"We were a bit apprehensive about bringing him into the shop because I guess it is a distraction. But, you know, speaking to Tony the butcher, his two older kids grew up here and now they work in his business for him as well. And of course, all the Lombardo kids always got around here, it just became part of people's shopping experience that the kids were around."

"That gave us the sort of confidence that it was okay to have him here and it didn't have to be a strict professional business in that sense. It's family, people don't mind the kids running around, they actually quite enjoy it. And now that we see our customers coming in with little tackers who are rolling around on the floor or you know, eat the banana on the way around, it doesn't matter."

Daniel and Laura said that 99% of customers have embraced the change and are welcoming and supportive with a few people worried that a large corporation was behind the purchase or someone not local but a quick explanation has them knowing it is another local Lismore family having a crack at running a business.

There have been some cosmetic changes to the shop layout but that has been received well by customers coming back into the shop since the change of ownership.

Fruit and vegetable prices have been at extraordinary highs for the last few months, especially in the Northern Rivers. We were paying $8-9 for an iceberg lettuce or $9 for broccoli, when will these prices return to more normal levels.

"Fruit has been consistent, that hasn't been too affected by any of the weather events that we had this year," Daniel explained, "Vegetables definitely got hammered hard because this time of year we rely on the Lockyer Valley and south eastern Queensland for about 80% of the vegetables in the country and they went through two or, for some places, three floods this year. That's just what you had to pay if you wanted things like cauliflower, beans, broccoli and tomatoes."

"Now we are seeing more consistent warm, sunny days both here and there, prices are starting fall as volume increases. I keep saying to customers that if we keep having days and weeks like this then crops will turn around and come springtime we'll almost forget what we've been through with vegetable prices."

Daniel and Laura stock local products and use local suppliers like packaging where they can and as we know, the profits they make will stay in Lismore. That is the advantage of shopping local.

The new 'smashed av produce market' is 659 Ballina Road, Goonellabah at the roundabout as you head towards The Village Goonellabah. Pop in and say hi and welcome Daniel and Laura to business in Lismore.