On a prominent corner in Goulburn’s central business district, Harvey Norman franchisees are keen to move elsewhere. Photo: John Thistleton.
Retailer Harvey Norman is looking for a greenfield site in South Goulburn to replace the premises it leases in the city’s main street amid a dispute over maintenance.
The furniture and bedding, computers and electrical appliance departments are run by three separate franchisees under the Harvey Norman banner in the basement level store. They also occupy extensive storage space on the upper level of the three-storey building which they have occupied since 2005.
They will not comment on their concerns with the building, which include the lack of lift access and leaking from the ceiling onto their stock.
The landmark building’s owner Tony Lamarra said the franchisees were being unreasonable, given the cheap rent they had been receiving for many years.
He said he had spent well over $100,000 on repairs to the building, previously known as Dimmeys and before that Rogers Store, on the corner of Auburn and Montague streets.
He was not prepared to pay for some of the upgrades at this stage, including painting the exterior of the building, given the exorbitant amounts of money he had been quoted.
He would be happy to see the basement vacated because other major retailers had expressed an interest in leasing the property. The ground level floor is leased by long-term tenant Best Buys.
Mr Lamarra did not see the need for charging more rent. “I don’t want to overcharge, I would rather see people employed in Goulburn,” he said.
Harvey Norman executive chairman Gerry Harvey said he was unsure about what would happen in the future and would not comment.
He said he had renewed his long acquaintance with Mr Lamarra and his wife Adriana after the couple bought the building for $5.25 million in September 2023.
“We’ve had quite a lot of meetings since that time,” Mr Harvey said. “Tony used to be the mayor there and he’s a good bloke. I like him and I have known him now for I don’t know how many years – it’s a long time.”
Real estate agent Peter Mylonas, who negotiated the sale of the building in 2023, said two or three years were left on the lease, after which Harvey Norman would leave.
Mr Mylonas said the retailer was looking for a new site on which to develop opposite Craig’s Furniture in Hume Street. “I think it was them (Harvey Norman) looking to build behind Bunnings, but it was going to be too expensive,” he said.
Mr Lamarra said he remembered serving Mr Harvey hamburgers many years ago before he became a businessman.
Mr Harvey recalls selling vacuum cleaners in Goulburn and many other country towns in the late 1950s while working for a Sydney-based firm, which also sold floor polishers.
“I stayed at the local pub down there, then I would go out, knock on doors and sell vacuum cleaners,” he said.
“I could have bought a hamburger off him (Mr Lamarra) when I was 18,” he said. His brother Henry Harvey had lived in Goulburn for many years.
Aside from his property interests, Mr Lamarra has several charitable ventures underway or planned. He will launch a charitable foundation for women suffering from breast cancer in October. He and Adriana have donated $50,000 and have many other offers of donations from Goulburn businesses.
He has also offered the NSW Government $1 million to refurbish two old maximum security wings of the heritage-listed Goulburn jail, to avoid inmates being relocated to Junee.
