Through decades of changing fashions, Lismore's go-to place for a formal dress - Tahiti Hut - has finally closed.

A shop that was once filled with racks of women’s clothing and accessories is now reduced to just a few piles of dismantled shelves and clothes racks. 

Tahiti Hut owner Reg Bailey said after 45 years in business, the process of packing up the shop was an important one, as he processed so much time being in business.

“It’s been good to pull down the shelving and racks because there’s a lot of grieving and sadness in closing the shop,” Reg said.

“So, as I pull it all apart, I’m able to process and let it go.

“It’s been a great business and a great shop. But after the floods, drought, fires and then the virus, I knew it was time to close.”

Roy has seen a lot of changes in fashion - and in the Lismore CBD over the decades – from the early days in the 1970s, when his brother Roy opened the shop, right through to the Covid-19 crisis.

While there are more women’s clothing boutiques in Lismore now that there used to be, once Tahiti Hut was the main place you would visit for a new dress if you had a special occasion or a formal coming up.

“That’s why we survived so long,” Reg said. “We were unique in what we sold.”

Reg said that when he announced on Facebook that the shop was closing, loyal customers came down to the shop and bought up most of his stock.

“I’m ready for retirement now though,” Reg said. 

“I plan to travel to Europe once travel opens up across the world again.”

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