Tennant Creek’s Barkly Hardware store to stay open while on the market

A Territory town’s only hardware store has been thrown a lifeline days before it was due to shut, with multiple parties now interested in the property, according to the agent overseeing the sale. Find out more.

Barkly Hardware and Gas, Tennant Creek. Picture: Facebook/ Sid Vashist

A Territory town’s only hardware store – which was set to shut – has been thrown a lifeline while on the market, with plenty interested in the property, according to the agent overseeing the sale.

Originally set to shut on January 31, Barkly Hardware in Tennant Creek is now staying open while Nutrien Harcourts agent Jo-Anne Pulsford works to sell the store.

Ms Pulsford told this masthead more than 15 parties had already registered their interest in the store.

“It’s being sold as expressions of interest,” she said.

“You’ve got the land and buildings as one part of it and then you’ve got the stock … it’s the land, buildings and the stock and it’s negotiable.”

Barkly Hardware and Gas in Tennant Creek. Picture: Julalikari Aboriginal Corporation website

Ms Pulsford did not mention who the interested parties were, as they had all signed confidentiality clauses, she said.

She was however “surprised” by the level of interest in the store.

Previously, in 2022, the hardware store changed hands for $850,000, according to a listing on Andrews Property.

Depending on how the expression of interest phase progresses, the store could get a proper listing with a price, Ms Pulsford said.

The hardware store is jointly owned by Julalikari Aboriginal Corporation and Centrecorp Aboriginal Investment Corporation, which each hold a 50 per cent share in the store.

Ms Pulsford said Julalikari and Centrecorp held a meeting on January 24, where a decision was reached for the hardware store to trade past January 31.

A leaked letter on social media said Barkly Hardware and Gas would cease trading January 31, 2025. Picture: Supplied

In December last year, a letter signed by Centrecorp chief executive Randle Walker circulated on social media which said Barkly Hardware would shut on January 31, 2025.

This masthead understands three casuals were sacked in the wake of the announcement.

Posting to Facebook, Barkly MLA Steve Edgington said he was “looking forward” to a “positive announcement” on the hardware store in the future.

Applications for expressions of interest for the store would close February 17, Ms Pulsford said.

Originally published as Tennant Creek’s Barkly Hardware store to stay open while on the market