The loss of businesses in the CBD has meant a gain in the number of businesses that have opened in Goonellabah since the floods. Some planned to open there anyway while others have been forced to make a change given the devastating circumstances.

In the last four weeks, The Village Goonellabah has opened three new shops with a fourth on the way. The Lismore App introduces you to what's new in Goonellabah.

Cheepa Trimz Barber Shop

Damon Cook is the new owner of the barber shop in The Village Goonellabah, buy it from the popular Samoan Fil Esau.

Damon has a fiance and two young children and was looking at buying the existing business from Fil before the floods.

Damon performed his apprenticeship at Silver Scissors in the CBD and then left to work for NORCO at the ice cream factory for a few years.

"The floods pushed the decision a long a little bit," Damon said, "I'm glad I made the change, I'm enjoying cutting again and business has been great. I see some old faces and some new ones too."

(Damon Cook, the new owner of Cheepa Trimz barber shop)

At the moment Damon is walk-in only, as was Fil, however, he is looking to set up a booking system in the future.

Mark from Mark The Barber in the Summerland Arcade in the CBD has been cutting hair from his home since the flood but now has a chair at Damon's barber shop. You can make a booking on 0434 122 340.

Cheepa Trimz is open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and Saturday's 8am to 12 noon.

TELSTRA

The new Telstra shop, next to the laundromat has been running for four weeks. Before it opened Telstra customers had to go to Ballina if they needed physical help or face-to-face advice.

Manager Dwayne Cahill said not many people know they have opened the new store in Goonellabah but they will be going back to the CBD.

(Manager Dwayne Cahill inside the new Telstra shop)

"This is a temporary agreement so we can serve the people of Lismore while the CBD store is being cleaned up," Dwayne told the Lismore App, "We will be here until the new shop is complete but we are looking at being here possibly for 12 months."

"Initially, we helped our customers by going to the recovery centres at the uni and GSAC for about a month while this shop was being fitted out."

All staff that were working in the Lismore store are now working in Goonellabah.

Telstra Goonallabah is open Monday to Wednesday 9am to 5pm, Thursday 9am to 7pm, Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturday 9am to 4pm.

THE REJECT SHOP

The brand new Reject Shop opened last Saturday which is next to the new Rivers Mega Outlet.

Again, all 8 staff are from the Lismore Central store and will return once it has been cleaned and a re-fit complete.

(The Reject Shop staff in the new Goonellabah store, Lachlan Aitken, Crystal Tune, Bec Butts, Katie Tasker and Julia Olive)

The Reject Shop manager Bec Butts said it was fantastic to be open again.

"We're loving being back open again, especially in a brand new store. We miss the CBD but that will be back in about 6 to 12 months' time."

The Lismore App had written previously that this store would stock products from UK giant Tesco, however, they stopped the international agreements they had in place late last year.

The Reject Shop is open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5:30pm, Saturday 8:30am to 5pm and Sunday 9am to 3pm.

VILLAGE PEOPLE

While you may not know the name of the Village People, you will know the name Dirty Willson from the Lismore CBD.

While there will be no burgers on the new menu when they open in early June (all being equal with trades) there will be coffee and takeaway food with seating for around 30 people. Then in the evenings Andrea and Emily will be back serving homemade pizza.

The good news for those wondering what the future of Dirty's holds, they will be back in the CBD, just not in the same location.

"There was too much damage to our shop and what was available grants wise was not enough to rebuild," Andrea said, " But the plan is to go back into different premises and on a much smaller scale."

"We didn't want to just move Dirty's to Goonellabah, it is synonymous with the CBD and burgers. Dirty's has an identity of its own, it just didn't feel right to move it up there."

(Working on the shop fit-out for the Village People in Goonellabah. Photo: supplied)

Andrea and Emily Bonotto have had a torrid time in getting a small business up and running in Lismore dating back to just before the 2017 floods.

"We had bought a shipping container to set up near the river in South Lismore and were going through council with a DA (development application) when the flood hit and we lost about $50,000. It took us 5 years since the'17 flood including two years of COVID to get Dirty's to where it was and then these latest floods hit."

Like many local CBD business owners, every piece of equipment was dismantled and moved to higher levels (above one in 100-year flood levels) but as we all know now, that was not enough.

So, Andrea and Emily look to start again with the Village People at the start of June.

The Village Goonellabah can be found at 1 Simeoni Drive opposite the Council Chambers.