When I posted the news on my Facebook page, I didn't realise just how big it would be.

I knew there was a real desire for Kmart but the post spread like wildfire and within minutes I had calls from the media and it wasn't long before people were coming up to ask me if it was true.

I know that Kmart will be a major boost for our region.

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I have been campaigning for them to come here for 12 years. But I still wasn't expecting the outpour of enthusiasm that we saw.

There have been some big retailers who have come to Dubbo in the last few years including Aldi and JB HiFi and once they have arrived they have become very successful.

I have no doubt Kmart will experience major success too.

They've made us wait for a while but that has just made everyone want it even more.

Now on October 15, Kmart will open its doors to Dubbo and it will be a big one. The store will be larger than Orange's existing Kmart.

Given how many people have previously told me they travelled to Orange for a Kmart trip, this is a great result for our region.

It does come at the expense of Target.

Wesfarmers made the decision to close the struggling chain here in Dubbo and switch it with the more popular one.

I do have some mixed feelings about the transition. As a teenager I worked at Target and it was a fantastic place.

At that stage their range was so much bigger, with big auto and home hardware sections, and I learned how to mix paint because they were selling paint there at that time.

At that stage Target was the more successful outlet but it has declined since then.

It would have been good if we could have kept both.

There is enough retail demand in our region to warrant both.

It isn't just the 55,000 of the Dubbo area that we support, but a wider population of 130,000 who live around us.

We are a service hub and that means we can support more but the decision has been made, and we are much better off than if we continued to just have a Target.

There is no doubt that Kmart is the better performing option now, and the retail sector needs every boost it can get.

It is also fantastic news for existing Target employees because they will make the transition to Kmart and know they have stable jobs.

If the store performs well, it is even quite likely they will have to employee more staff. In these times, that would be a fantastic outcome for Dubbo.

It should also provide a boost for Dubbo Square and the CBD as a whole.

Bring on October 15 and Kmart.

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