One of Broome’s oldest businesses closes its doors

“Broome used to be a real rage of a town,” Dana Aldersea recalls as she scans what is left of the stock during the closing down sale at Broome’s only souvenir shop. “Socially, the town has changed a lot.” “There used to be thriving entertainment, and I’m not talking about some three-piece band down the road. I’m talking huge musical acts at the Mangrove.” For four decades Dana and Garnet Aldersea ran their Boabtree Souvenir store, but the Broome where they launched their business scarcely resembles the town they are now bidding farewell to. Ms Aldersea’s eyes sparkle when she recalls the Shiniju Matsuri Festival of the Pearl events during the 1990’s. “Shiniju used to be marvellous, with a huge parade and the whole town would get involved, after celebrations on Male Oval,” she said. Dana’s husband and co-owner of the store, Garnet Aldersea, is a former president of the Shiniju committee and backs his wife’s account. One of his responsibilities was organising the Shiniju Balls. He describes evenings of pageantry, with ball gowns and bow ties on display under Broome’s crescent moon. “We had an amazing military band at the balls, and the Pearl Kings would escort the Pearl Queens in one by one. “Then you would have the shire president and community leaders sitting up on stage (and they) would give great speeches to the crowd. It was really amazing, “ Mr Aldersea said. The couple have observed a decline in tourism over the past ten years. The reduction in visitor numbers has saddened them as meeting tourists has been their favourite part of the job. “The highlight of running the store has been meeting tourists, who are really good people,” Mrs Aldersea said. “A lot of people who walked into our store became lifelong friends. Only recently we visited a couple from Queensland who we met through the shop,” she said. However not every customer turned out to be “friend” material. Mr Aldersea recalls one peculiar incident that occurred in the store. ”One day there was a woman standing in the corner of the store staring directly at me. “I said to her: ‘do you need any help?’ “And she responded by saying ‘No. I just wanted to have a look at the old angry bastard,’ and I said: ‘What?’ And she said: ‘Yeah. I wanted to have a look at the old angry bastard. I have seen you on Facebook’.” Her outburst was a surprise to Mr Aldersea: he doesn’t have a Facebook account, let alone understand how he would be characterised on the social media site. The couple have received many letters, gifts and well wishes from tourists and locals since announcing their retirement, underscoring the store’s significant place in the community’s affection. “We have been so overwhelmed by people coming in to say goodbye and wish us luck,” Mrs Aldersea said. “Community members have come in and said ‘I’ve been wearing your T-shirts for 20 years, it will be sad to see you go, but you have been here for a long time, and you need to do what’s best for you’,” she said. Despite retiring, there’s no slowing down in sight for the legendary couple in their 80s, with Mr Aldersea having his sights set on Morocco. “My plan is to go out into the Sahara Desert on camels. You can stay in tents out there. I would like to do that for about three months,” he said. Despite acknowledging how Broome’s culture has shifted, the couple still have deep love for the town and admit they are sad to leave it. “We will always love Broome, but it’s time to go,” Mrs Aldersea said.