Narrabri Shire Council has launched a national marketing campaign to attract big-box retailers to the small but mighty town, amid a local struggle to buy bras, socks and jocks.
This follows the closure of department store Target along Maitland Street in 2021, alongside other closures such as Rockmans and Millers stores following the collapse of their parent company Mosaic Brands.
Narrabri council’s new promotional video is titled #BringBackSocksAndJocks, in which locals are forced to take drastic steps in making their own clothes from the ample raw cotton available in the region.
The town, located in north-west New South Wales, is considered the cotton capital of Australia, producing over 11 per cent of the nation’s cotton and generating close to $6 billion in economic output annually.
Narrabri Shire Mayor Darrell Tiemens said the campaign is also about closing the retail gap between regional and metro areas.
“It’s time retailers recognised the growing need in regions like ours,” Tiemens said. “Narrabri Shire produces the cotton that clothes the country, yet our families are driving hours just to buy socks and undies. We’re not asking for luxury – we’re asking for basics.”
According to the council, a lack of a large-format clothing retailer in Narrabri has left many residents without access to affordable, quality essentials.
Parents reportedly face hours of travel and expense just to clothe their children, while older people, many of whom are not confident online, are left without practical means to shop for basic necessities.
Beyond attracting more retailers to Narrabri, the council hopes the campaign will spark a larger national conversation about access and equity. The campaign asks why regional and rural Australians, who help drive billions in export and industry value, should be left behind when it comes to something as basic as buying clothes in their own communities.
"Narrabri grows the nation’s fibre, quite literally. So, the idea that we can't even buy socks and jocks in town? It’s laughable,” Tiemens said.
“We've had a bit of fun highlighting the issue, but the message is serious: it's time for a major retailer to come back and support us.”
Narrabri Shire is currently home to nearly 13,000 people and supports over 6,900 jobs across key industries including cotton, grain, wool, beef, coal mining and gas.
The region contributes approximately 11.6 per cent of the national cotton production – a crop valued at nearly $4.1 billion nationwide.
“As an economically strong and resilient community, we are more than contributing to the nation’s bottom line,” Narrabri Shire general manager Eloise Chaplain said. “We have a stable workforce, a growing population, and a 20-year rezoning strategy to deliver 2,100 new homes and a vibrant new CBD centre. This is the ideal environment for a major retailer ready to expand.”