Beloved Higginson's Menswear set to close its doors after 65 years

It's a sad day for Michelle Matthews and her daughter, Abbey Matthews, as they announce that they will be closing Higginson's Menswear, a family owned shop on High Street started by Abbey's grandfather, and the place both have worked all of their lives.

Lionel Higginson met his wife, Dulcie, a few years after returning from the war at a social dance and, as granddaughter Abbey said, it was love at first sight.

"They got engaged six months after and started building their dream lives," Abbey said.

"They both worked in menswear at the time, then in 1958 grandad said, 'right, I think we can give this a go ourselves', and that's how it all started.

"Mum (Michelle) was only two at the time and the arcade that the shop is located in was built by Lionel's sister and brother-in-law, who also owned a barber shop in the arcade and lived in the apartment above it, so it was a whole family affair.

"Grandad had his eldest daughter working with him in the store, Pauline (Golding), who worked in the shop for 45 years before she decided to retire. Nan kept going though, Nan was about 83 when she decided to let the reins go and let mum take it over."

One year after starting Higginson's Menswear, Lionel and Dulcie decided to expand into womenswear, and then years later in 1994, they bought another shop front, where Jannoel Florist is now. It was there they started a women's store, and a lingerie shop next door, where you can still see the sign - Dee Gals Lingerie.

When Lionel passed away in 1999, his eldest daughter Pauline, who supported the business from the time she was 15 until her retirement, helped her mother progress the business to what it is today.

"I remember back in the early days there wasn't much transport up and down the freeway, it was all by rail, and I remember every morning dad would take the stationwagon down to the train station and pick up his freight, and because there was no instant orders back then, he'd buy things in bulk," Michelle said.

"I think he had about $10,000 worth of akubra hats at one time.

"Mum and dad both had a wicked sense of humour, not necessarily G-rated, and I remember mum one day had a gentlemen in the fitting room who thought he would flash her, and without missing a beat, mum walked past him and said, 'yeah I've seen better than that'.

"That sticks out because it would have been pretty brazen of mum, because she was only a tiny little thing, to stand up to a man like that, but that's the person she was - fearless.

"When dad passed away in 1999 it became too much for mum to run both stores, so she closed her lingerie shop and her daughter Pauline support her until she retired, which is when my husband and I helped out and eventually ran the menswear shop, which we have been doing for 15 years.

"We tried a few different things, but we ended up coming back to what worked for so long - don't fix what isn't broken we'd say.

"Nothing much has changed; sure, we have an electronic cash register now, but the old work trousers are still wrapped in twine with the labels on them, as dad used to do, so dad's DNA still survives in the store."

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But Abbey says a lot of other things have changed since 1958; online purchasing has left family businesses often unable to compete, and where once customers would build a relationship with their local shop owners, they are now greeted with robots - or not greeted at all.

"There's not a lot of older gentlemen stores nowadays, which is a shame, because at the end of the day, older gentlemen don't want to shop online, they want to come in and have that customer service and have that relationship," Abbey said.

"The amount of time we've had blokes come and say, 'oh, I've got a dinner or I've got a wedding, today', is more than we can count. And we're like, 'OK, no worries. What size are you, this size, they'd answer pointing to themselves' - we've heard that one a thousand times," they both laughed.

"Customer service is a lost art; you don't get it at the big chains ... and having good customer service is the only thing the older generation knows," Abbey said.

"They struggle when going into the big chains, they have to help themselves and often they don't know what they want, and that is what this store is famous for, helping people."

Although there were many glory years for the shop, the last couple were not so sweet; roadworks, COVID, online shopping and now rising interest rates have all had their impact on the store, more than it could handle.

"It is a very sad thing, and it's like a grieving process that we are having to go through. For us to have to close, it's a big thing, and ... it's just sad," Abbey said, holding back tears.

"This shop is a beautiful story about two people finding love, who had the same passion, building their dream ... and it's hard, because we only lost nan three years ago, and it's sort of like losing her all over again."

"The support that they gave to the town of Wodonga is my parents legacy, in all their charitable work, and supplying the town with such a wonderful store that has always prided itself on service and good quality clothes, that's their legacy," Michelle said.

"We'd just like to thank our loyal customers who have supported us all these years."

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