It will be many moons yet before Monty Knight retires from the Kaitaia business community he has been part of all his adult life, but he is in the process of winding down, just a little.
He will officially begin that process on July 2, when fellow retailers Ian and Anne Walker, who already own Paper Plus and Folders Electronics, become the new owners of what is now 100 per cent Monty Knight (incorporating Beds R Us).
Monty, born and bred in Kaitaia, and the southern end of Commerce Street site go back to 1968, when he open the tiny record bar Monty's Disc Inn. The business flourished, grew, and finally morphed into a major supplier of electronics, appliances and beds.
"We've had a number of name changes over the past 44 years, including Monty's Appliance Court, Retravision, and finally 100 per cent Monty Knight, with Beds R Us added in the last four years," he said.
"Now that I'm approaching semi-retirement I've been looking for a new owner who measured up to certain criteria, and Ian and Anne certainly do that."
For a start they were locals - Anne was a sixth generation member of the Matthews family, founded by Rev Joseph Matthews who established the Kaitaia mission in 1834 - both had extensive experience in sales and marketing, and they already operated two very successful stores, alongside their farming interests.
Both were community minded (Ian is a Northland Regional councillor) and had committed themselves to long-term investments in the district.
"They could not fit the bill any better," Monty said.
Ian and Anne said Folders 100 per cent would take over the day to day operation of the store on July 2, and from the public's point of view, little would change; it would still be a genuinely local business offering a broad selection and competitive pricing.
"We are looking forward to continuing to grow this iconic local business into the future," they said.
In the meantime Monty's not expecting to have too much trouble filling his days.
"I intend to slow down a notch," he said, "but I still have Knights the Jewellers, there's Okahu Estate to look after, and I'm wanting to invest more time in my role as a Far North District councillor."