WANTED: Entrepreneurial soul with a love of history and a desire to be part of the community.
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Having made a success of her own venture on the Sydney Road at Kelso, businesswoman Desley Meyers hopes to get a neighbour to help her bring an historic commercial strip back to life.
Ms Meyers recently signed an extension on the lease for her barber shop Sydney Road Cuts For All, which operates from the historic building on the Gilmour Street corner.
"I have been at the shop for 12 months and it was a struggle at first, but I have definitely had the support from Kelso and Raglan, Eglinton, Wattle Flat and Sofala and the surrounding areas to keep the shop alive," she said.
"I have the local community walking down to me to save the hustle and bustle of in town.
"I've brought old bric-a-brac into the shop because it's such a nice old building. It's such a brilliant building to be utilised."
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Now she hopes someone will make use of the historic former general store next to her to be part of Kelso's revival.
"I always loved the [Sydney Road] buildings and I remember it from my childhood being the old butcher's shop and the general store and the newsagent and how thriving the businesses were back then," she said.
"Times changed over that period and a lot of these buildings have been closed down and haven't been opened for a long time.
"Having the general store open would mean a lot to me and the community - having them brought back to life like they used to be."
Bathurst-born-and-bred Ms Meyers was in New Zealand for 20 years before returning to her home town nearly four years ago and said the change in population was surprising.
"The growth is huge and it's continuing to grow," she said. "Kelso alone has not got a lot of stores out here and a lot of people have to go in to town.
"If these old buildings can be used, that would be fantastic."
Investors have been showing an appetite to put their money into Kelso in recent years.
Kelso Centrepoint's new owner Praba Kulasegaram has helped bring new businesses to the complex on Boyd Street, while the 27-hectare Gateway development on the Great Western Highway opposite Harvey Norman will eventually have a new KFC, Shell service station and motel.
In a nod to the historical nature of her building, Ms Meyers said she was trying to run her barber shop in a way that harked back to another age, including giving vegetables to her clients.
"I'm trying to bring back that old give and take to help people out," she said.