And, as the owner of one of the longest-serving businesses in Moree, Sylvia should know.

It is her excellent customer service, friendliness and warm, welcoming smile which has seen Sylvia awarded the Moree Thumbs Up Thumbs Down Customer Service Recognition Award for May, receiving a total of 145 votes in the monthly poll on the closed Facebook group.

Sylvia has been overwhelmed with all of the wonderful comments and feedback she has received from members of the community and is very appreciative to all of those who took the time to vote for her.

“I was excited to know that I had received the award,” she said.

“A big thank you to whoever nominated me and thanks to all who voted for me. It’s lovely to be appreciated.

“Tanya [Fitch, Moree Thumbs Up Thumbs Down Facebook page administrator] does an incredible job organising Thumbs Up Thumbs Down.”

READ ALSO:

Sylvia and her husband bought the material shop in 1976, after Sylvia’s previous employer offered her the opportunity to buy the business.

“I didn’t think I could manage a shop,” Sylvia said. 

“I was a housewife and dressmaker.

“I had a lot to learn.”

Forty-two years later and Sylvia modestly admits she “must have done something right” to have lasted in business for so long, particularly among an ever-changing economic climate and a significant decline in the number of people who sew in an era of low cost, fast fashion.

“Good service is the key and being happy to do it,” she said of her business success.

“It just comes over that you enjoy doing what you’re doing. People won’t come back and they will talk about you if you don’t have good service.

“You also have to cater for all tastes and needs. I’m lucky to have picked up on what was needed at the time.”

Sylvia said things have changed so much during her 42 years in business – once she used to sell curtains off the roll, now they’re ready made; she used to employ staff, now she only gets someone in when she goes away.

“People sewed clothes and curtains in those days,” she said.

“I had a massive business due to TAFE. They would make tailored suits and they had patchwork classes. It was big money. They used to come in here - there’d be 10 getting material for a suit for $120 each. I’d make $1,200 in two hours selling pure wool and silk.”

While she still has a couple of handfuls of “regulars”  – mostly her good friends who still enjoy sewing, as well as a few dressmakers in the area – Sylvia credits ready-made curtains as her saving grace these days.

“I wouldn’t be here without ready-made curtains – they’re my lifeline,” she said.

Sylvia still enjoys coming to work each day and looks forward to seeing what the day will bring.

She said the people she meets and the customers who have become her good friends is what she loves most about what she does.

“I’ve made so many friends since my husband and I purchased the shop 42 years ago,” she said.

“I just love the friendship. It keeps you wanting to be in business.”

And, despite celebrating her 80^th birthday over Christmas last year, Sylvia has no plans to retire any time soon.

“Illness is the only thing that would force me to stop working,” she said.

“I have to keep busy.”