It was the end of an era last week when Hay’s pharmacist of close to 70 years finally passed on the baton.

“The time has come,” Allan Japp told The Riverine Grazier after signing over his share of Japp’s Pharmacy to Mina Malek who had been working with him for the past two-and-a-half years.

Graham and Carrie Matthews are now the new proud owners of Hills Corner Store Hay, their official trading name.