The Bathurst Business Chamber has also offered its support for the move while shoppers from surrounding towns say they would make the trip to shop at Kmart if it opened here again. All the ducks are in a row, except for one - Kmart itself.

The department store which last week celebrated 50 years in Australia has been here once and closed more than a decade ago. Presumably, poorer than expected trading played a role.

And the retail landscape is a very different place today than what it was then, with online shopping sales growing every year and bricks-and-mortar retail outlets finding it harder and harder to stay afloat.

One of Kmart's biggest rivals, Big W, announced last month it would be closing about one-third of its Australian department stores because they were no longer trading to the company's expectations, proof that even the biggest names in retail are finding it tough.

So bringing Kmart back to Bathurst would not be without risk and it's understandable that the company would want to very carefully consider its position before moving.

But, never say never.

On the plus side of the argument is the fact that Kmart is continuing to expand its reach in regional NSW with a new store to open in Griffith in August.

Working in Bathurst's favour in terms of attracting a Kmart is the fact this is a bigger city than Griffith and a Bathurst store would also draw shoppers from surrounding towns such as Oberon, Blayney, Mudgee and Lithgow.

And that's why the chamber is happy to support a return.

In today's retail world, it's not a case of store against store but, rather, a case of real world versus online.

Bathurst store owners should not see Kmart's potential arrival in Bathurst as bringing in another opponent. Instead, they should see it as another team-mate in their fight to stop dollars being spent online.

Kmart would bring extra people into the local shopping precinct and that would be good news for every store owner.

Getting people to go to the shops is their biggest battle today. Once the people are at the shops, every store owner has the chance of profiting.

It all sounds so good. Now we just have to convince Kmart.