A "knight in shining armour" has saved a long-running grocery store in Woonona just a day before it was set to close for good.
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Sarah McManus, who had struggled for months to keep Manic Organic Whole Foods afloat, went public with her shop's financial woes in November last year.
"It's become increasingly hard to compete against big supermarkets who have so much buying power in a lot of the same products we love to stock," she posted on Facebook.
"The decrease in sales, means the decrease in money to buy the stock that you love to buy."
While the online revelation resulted in new and returning customers popping in to show their support, the store continued to run at a daily loss and in January, after failing to secure a buyer, Sarah made the gut-wrenching decision to close.
"So many customers came in expressing their sorrow that such a long-standing business was going to be no more, and a lot of our customers suffer from chronic illnesses and diseases for which they really rely on pesticide-free produce," she said.
"I obviously joined these people in their sadness, but I had no choice. Honestly, I was crushed."
Sarah held a closing down sale, but was still holding onto hope that "by some miracle someone would come along and save Manic Organic".
That miracle came at the 11th hour in the form of 81-year-old Philip - a loyal customer who couldn't bear to see his community lose the independent grocery store.
"I wanted to hug him; I was in complete shock, it's all happened so quickly and it's still a bit surreal," Ms McManus said.
"I know I couldn't give Manic Organic what it needed to thrive, but I have faith that Philip, along with the community, will be able to get the business back up and running the way it was in its heyday."
Ms McManus said the new owner intends to run the business without any desire to make a profit.
"He wants all money coming in to the store to go back in to being able to source the absolute best and freshest produce from the farm for our community, as well as help reduce the kind of waste that is produced by large supermarkets," she said.
"Talk about a knight in shining armour. The community really needs to get on board for Philip to be able to continue to provide them with the best local produce he can get.
"He is literally only doing this for them."
The new owner has hired his close friend - and founder of the not-for-profit Need A Feed - Shaz Harrison to run the store.
"Our goal is to build the business up and help serve the community in the best possible way," Ms Harrison said.
"We aim to promote the fruit and veggie boxes with free delivery and offer as much variety as we can and also attend to personal requests."
She is asking the community to get behind the small business.
"(Manic Organic) has been a part of the community for nearly 20 years, supporting local organic businesses and families in the local area," she said.
"We would love to see it open for another 20 years."
