What he now considers a brilliant day of trade was perhaps only slightly above average a couple of years ago.

Mr Pearson says his shop is struggling to compete with large supermarket chains.

“There is a perception that the supermarket is cheaper, but that’s not always the case,” he said.

“I’m not the only one – it’s affecting dairy, fuel, fruit and veg, and papershops.

“And we don’t have $100 million to spend on advertising a year.

“Some of those companies have CEOs who are probably onto their third negatively-geared home, while the average person is struggling to buy their kids a footy jersey or put a meal on the table.”

Mr Pearson opened his butcher shop in Kurri Kurri in 1983 and moved it to Weston in 2010.

He says the past five years have been particularly tough, and that his business is not the only one that is struggling.

“There are 20-odd vacant shops in Kurri,” he said.

“If you don’t support the little fella, they’re gone.”

Mr Pearson said local businesses often support community organisations, or raise funds for local families in times of need, and also provide training and employment opportunities for young people.

He urged the community not to forget about small businesses.

“It might be a few extra steps, but it might help your grandkids’ future to spend your dollars in the town,” he said.

Kurri Kurri District Business Chamber president Rod Doherty said the community continued to experience the aftermath of the closure of the Hydro aluminium smelter.

“In 2012 when the smelter closed I said that the Kurri Kurri district would not feel the full effects for two years; that was when ex-employees and contractors redundancy payments would run out,” Mr Doherty said.

“It was criminal of the government of the day to put false hope into the workforce by quoting that 6000 jobs were on offer that day.

“Since then we have lost hundreds, if not thousands [of jobs] from mining.

“The current unemployment in the Cessnock LGA is now topping 14 percent with Kurri Kurri probably higher.”

Mr Doherty said the businesses could turn to the Hunter Region Business Enterprise Centre in Kurri for reasonably affordable assistance.