{"id":631111,"date":"2026-04-26T02:03:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T02:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/631111\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T02:03:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T02:03:19","slug":"married-couple-retire-in-their-90s-after-running-small-towns-only-hardware-store-for-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/631111\/","title":{"rendered":"Married couple retire in their 90s after running small town’s only hardware store for decades"},"content":{"rendered":"

Driving down Broadway in Junee, there are no sparkling lights or shimmering billboards.<\/p>\n

Instead, the rich railway heritage and preserved 19th-century architecture of this small country town in southern NSW are what stand out. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Right in its heart is a large, unassuming building: Broadway Builders Supplies, owned and operated by 90-year-old Margaret Pickles and her husband, 95-year-old Peter. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Sign<\/p>\n

Married couple Margaret and Peter Pickles opened the town’s only hardware store in 1967. (ABC News Riverina: Jostina Basta.)<\/p>\n

The couple have owned and run this business for almost 60 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We’ve seen a lot of water under the bridge in that time,” Mr Pickles said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A devastating fire in Junee on New Year’s Day in 2006 burnt 25,000 hectares, killed more than 20,000 livestock, and destroyed 10 homes in the town.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Old<\/p>\n

Now-retired couple Peter and Margaret Pickles have kept the hardware store open for almost six decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0 (Supplied.\u00a0)<\/p>\n

The pair also had to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

But these trials were no match for this hardy hardware store and its dedicated owners.<\/p>\n

“You just keep pushing on, I think; what can you do?” Mr Pickles said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the couple, who recently celebrated 71 years of marriage, have now decided it is time to hang up the tools.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Margaret<\/p>\n

Married couple Peter and Margaret Pickles are retiring, both aged in their 90s.\u00a0 (ABC News Riverina: Jostina Basta.)<\/p>\n

Mr Pickles said there was no other option than to finish the journey together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I heard Margaret telling customers she was going to retire at 90, and I thought, ‘How could I do it without her?’ So I put it [the hardware business] on the market,” \u00a0he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“She was always here and she’s a hell of a worker, you never see her standing around so I appreciated that over the years, I assure you.”\"Display<\/p>\n

Broadway Builders Supplies, which opened in 1967, is Junee’s only hardware store. (ABC News Riverina: Jostina Basta.\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Mr Pickles started as a builder, working on 350 homes in the town before making the decision to open Broadway Builders Supplies in 1967.<\/p>\n

The store moved to its current site on Broadway in 1972.<\/p>\n

Smoko at 10<\/p>\n

In the spirit of the building industry, the store still puts on a smoko every day at 10am, where a cup of tea and homemade baked goods are always on offer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The couple’s family have kept this tradition alive right up until their very last day of work on Friday, a ritual Mr Pickles was not keen to miss.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I was invited to a cup of tea a while ago, but I haven’t been presented with it yet,” Mr Pickles said at his retirement morning tea.<\/p>\n

Customers, friends and former employees also dropped by throughout the day to wish them well.<\/p>\n

\"Mr<\/p>\n

Mr Pickles admits retirement may be a challenge at first, but he will enjoy watching his wife gardening and chasing the cat.\u00a0 (Supplied.\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Son-in-law Alan Potty said most Junee residents had a piece of equipment from the shop in their homes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he said it was not just the hardware store that made its mark on the tight-knit community.<\/p>\n

The pair taught ballroom dancing to local school kids for their formals for over two decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“These two were very good dancers, and they were very passionate about teaching that,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“You live and work in the community, that’s what they did.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said he was emotional to see the end of an era for the couple, but it was a long time coming.<\/p>\n

“They’ve seen generational changes of the kids that have come through [the hardware store] that are now adults.”<\/p>\n

This included apprentices and workers who grew up around the store and later worked there.<\/p>\n

\"Alan<\/p>\n

Alan Potty said it is emotional to see his in-laws say their goodbyes to the decades-old institution.\u00a0 (ABC News Riverina: Jostina Basta.)<\/p>\n

Mr Pickles also said he was hopeful the community would return the favour and he could continue to be part of the industry, despite some mobility issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“A couple of blokes came up to me and said, ‘I’ll come pick you up and we’ll take you for dinner,’ so I’ll probably do that.”<\/p>\n

From one community member to another\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Pickles have sold the store to their neighbours, who also operate the local supermarket, which means the store will stay in the hands of Junee locals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Mr Pickles said he does not plan to pop in anytime soon, he is willing to offer a helping hand where needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“If they want to know something, they certainly know where I am, and I’ll come and do something for them, there’s no doubt.”<\/p>\n

\"Silver<\/p>\n

The community had a celebration on the afternoon of the couple’s retirement. (ABC News Riverina: Jostina Basta.\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Given almost a lifetime of hard work for Mr and Mrs Pickles, enjoying the quiet during retirement could be a challenge at first.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I can’t walk \u2026 so Margaret is still a hell of a worker and she does a lot of gardening \u2026 or chasing the cat,” he said.<\/p>\n

But he was looking forward to spending more time with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren \u2014 and taking things day by day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to do much from here on \u2026 but yes, I like breathing, I’ll continue to do that.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Driving down Broadway in Junee, there are no sparkling lights or shimmering billboards. Instead, the rich railway heritage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,22674,11758,134,64879,1571,7688,163368,1793],"class_list":{"0":"post-631111","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-building","11":"tag-construction","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-hardware-store","14":"tag-history","15":"tag-housing","16":"tag-junee","17":"tag-retirement"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}