But Mrs Sullivan’s enthusiasm impressed him so much that he agreed to her proposal to establish an electrical franchise in her family’s store, Finlaysons.

“I didn’t have Moss Vale in mind to open a store. I wasn’t sure Moss Vale was the place to be: it might be Bowral or it might be Mittagong,” said Mr Harvey, in Moss Vale on Saturday for the local stores’ 10th anniversary celebrations.

“But she was so impressive that I said ‘if you want to do it, I’ll back you, and that’s what we did.”

Mrs Sullivan, now a franchisee at the Bateman’s Bay Harvey Norman store, recalled how she persuaded the retail giant to come to Moss Vale.

“I said ‘yes, you can put a store in Mittagong or Bowral but I won’t be part of it’,” she said.

“My family has been in business in Moss Vale since 1908 and I felt it would be disloyal to go anywhere but Moss Vale.

“As far as we were concerned, we were the best shop in the best town.”

Mrs Sullivan said the success of Harvey Norman showed that people would drive “over the bridge” for the right business.

Mrs Sullivan and her brother Paul Finlayson started the electrical Harvey Norman franchise in the family store and later added the computer franchise.

The bedding and furniture franchise was added when Harvey Norman Moss Vale moved to its Lackey Road premises six years ago.

Mr Harvey said the Harvey Norman Moss Vale store had proved Mrs Sullivan right.

“People will travel it we offer a good enough service, good quality and a good range,” he said.

“What you’ve got to do - and it’s very important in any store - is you treat people better than they could ever expect to be treated and if you do that, they’ll be loyal to you.

“We’re only here because of people buying things, essentially, so what you do is look after the buggers.

If they’ve got a complaint, you fix it.”

Mr Harvey said smaller Harvey Norman stores like Moss Vale were often a stepping stone for employees, who went on to become franchisees or managers in larger stores.

“These little stores are the breeding grounds,” he said.

The Harvey Norman Moss Vale is part of an international group which includes 28 New Zealand stores, 15 stores in Singapore, three in Slovenia, 16 in Ireland and hundreds in Australia.