Will Gina Rinehart save the Kentucky general store from closure?

But time is running out.

Locals just have three weeks before the shop is permanently closed.

Chair of the Kentucky NSW Cooperative Ltd, Kevin Hughes, said if the store is closed for good, it would be a "great loss for the community".

"Without the store here, the village is really kaput," he said.

The Kentucky General Store and Cafe has provided the small town with groceries, coffee, postage, and fuel for the last 90 years.

Mr Hughes told the Leader, it would be great to see it get to it's 100^th.

Current owners, Rodney and Deborah McGrath have been the business custodians for the last 16 years, but they are ready to retire.

Mr Hughes said the couple has had the business on the market for the last few years.

"They have had a few people interested, but no one has gone ahead with the purchase," he said.

"So, they decided if they had not sold it by the end of May, they would shut the shop."

The village residents need to raise $600,000 to purchase and run the shop.

Mr Hughes said at the moment they are a little less than halfway there, so they need more community pledges.

"Aside from buying the shop, we have to stock it, refuel the fuel tanks, there is a bit of refurbishment needed, and employ a cafe manager," he said.

"We need to get funding until the cafe starts to make a profit."

The main issue flagged with the shop's closure would be the lack of an accessible post office.

"When we put out a survey around the town, the most mentioned thing was the post office," Mr Hughes said.

"A lot of elderly people collect their mail from here, and if they haven't got the post office here, they will have to travel to Walcha or brave the highway and head to Uralla."

Aside from the sale of basic necessities, the Kentucky action group wants to turn it into a community hub.

"We think we can entice a lot of people off the highway with cheap fuel; maybe stay for lunch and purchase some items in the shop," Mr Hughes said.

Mr Hughes believes the community can scrape together the money and save the store, but he still holds out hope for an angel investor.

"We really need funds and there has been a bit trickling in from the GoFundMe," he said.

"But what we really need are some big investors. I wrote to Gina Rinehart the other day, as she has a property out in Kingstown.

"I sent one off to Twiggy Forest philanthropic organisation, New England MP Barnaby Joyce, and even tried to get in contact with Dick Smith."