Tamworth's Lobsey family sells Central Dry Cleaners after eight decades

The challenge, which would stump most amateur clothes washers, is an art Mr Lobsey, alongside his wife Judy, have mastered after 60 years working at Tamworth's Central Dry Cleaners.

But the veteran dry cleaner has made the tough decision to hang up the steamer, chuck on one last load, and sell the family business to a new owner.

"It'll be a big change," Mr Lobsey told the Leader.

"I'm normally here at 6:30am every morning.

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"Rain, hale, shine, snow, drought, I'm here."

The dry cleaning business has been in the family since Mr Lobsey's parents, Eric and Jean, opened up a store on Brisbane Street on January 1, 1941.

By 1962, just a year before Mr Lobsey started working for the family business, his parents relocated the shop to the C.J Lillicrap Feed Merchants Building on Bridge Street.

Ross and Judy took charge of the business in 1980, and the store relocated to Belmore Street in 1992, where it has remained ever since.

Mr Lobsey said during his 60 year stint at the store processes have changed, and become more efficient, but the quality of the work hasn't changed.

He said each day the staff clean about 500 items of clothing, which he said was a modest estimate.

"The machines are kept very busy," he said.

But with busy machines comes all sorts of stains, tears, and damage to try and fix.

Mr Lobsey said he's been handed silk wedding dresses covered in black mud from the Liverpool Plains, the uniforms of Tamworth's emergency service crews, and even celebrities.

He distinctly remembers when American singer-songwriter Buck Owens, from The Buckaroos, came into the store with a jacket covered in diamonds, pearls, and sequins.

"Dad said to him, 'you don't need a dry cleaner, you need a jeweller," Mr Lobsey said.

When the time comes to hand the keys over to the new owners, Mr Lobsey said it's the regular customers and the "excellent" staff he'll miss the most.

He said the store has a "mile" of regular customers which he sometimes uses to tell the time instead of looking at a clock.

Mr Lobsey said he knows it's the middle of the week when 'Mrs Wednesday' comes in to drop-off her clothes, or that it's 8 o'clock on the dot when he sees the regular Saturday morning customers.

"I'll miss that part of it," he said.

Once the keys are handed over to the new owners, Mr Lobsey said he is excited to take a break from the hustle and bustle of owning a business, spend time with family, and hit the golf green.

"I think dad would still be pretty proud knowing that his legacy is still going on," Mr Lobsey said.

The new owners will take over on October 1, 2023.

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