Rolled, folded, hanging and forgotten flags adorn every bare wall and surface in Ron Strachan's vexillology store.

"Chaotic, colourful, and controversial", Mr Strachan's store sits between a massage shop and a long-vacant organic grocer in Darwin's CBD — a commercial district where many shopfronts display a For Lease sign.

Combating the fluctuating economy and transient nature of his clients, Mr Strachan's National Flags has remained a constantly active showroom for 25 years.

Mr Strachan said he was "affectionately called a legend".

"I know I fill a gap, people didn't know where to go for flags when my store was closed momentarily," he said.

Mr Strachan says there is never a dull moment in his store. ( ABC Radio Darwin: Gabrielle Lyons )

"I speak authoritatively on this subject as I have attended every World Flag Conference without missing one since the early 1980s."

Servicing the likes of police, military, Indigenous communities, and local schools, Mr Strachan is engrained in the community.

However, he said as he crept into his 80s he may have reached his "used-by date".

"I am looking to retire in my maturity [and] it's difficult because I just love the industry so much," he said.

Is this the flagman's final chapter?

Despite watching his flag friends sell up shop across the country and Darwin's commercial sector dwindle around him, Mr Strachan said he did not regret turning his passion into a career.

"You do have to be a nutcracker to work in a business like this," he said.

"Flag folk are nerds and crackers, and whatever else the kids come up with these days."

Mr Strachan's flag shop has survived for 25 years. ( ABC Radio Darwin: Gabrielle Lyons )

As of yet, Mr Strachan had not been able to find a protege with a passion for flags that equalled his own and he was concerned for his store's future.

"I am really surprised by the stores around me that continue to close. You really have to tough it out," he said.

"I can't say I have ever experienced a dull moment in the work I do and, in my opinion, the advent of more flags being created is bound to happen."

Are hobby stores a thing of the past?

Gary Mortimer from Queensland University of Technology's School of Business believed specialist stores would always hold a future within Australian retail.

"[Ron's store] is a classic example of a business that sells one product category and has a history and provenance within the city," he said.

"While it is easy to purchase a flag online and have it posted to your doorstep, it lacks the effort and energy it would take to support that personal location."

Consumers are searching for authenticity and quality from businesses. ( Reuters: Stephano Rellandini )

Professor Mortimer said the Australian retail sector had undergone challenges in recent years, particularly major department stores and businesses without a point of difference.

As a result, he said specialised hobby stores may come out on top because "authenticity is key".

"The entire retail sector is going through a period of disruption. The way we shop these days compared to 30 years ago has changed," Professor Mortimer said.

"As consumers we have changed, the market has changed, introducing stores that sell a large range of specialist products, but do not demonstrate passion or a specific quality for their products.

"However, the little hobbyists or niche retailers are targeting a smaller market and so they are not as threatened or exposed to a major retailer absorbing their business of the same quality."

'Flags do become a life passion'

Professor Mortimer compared Darwin's legendary flagman to the Disney film Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and said he sympathised with a man handing over the keys to his legacy.

"The lead character didn't want to let go until he found the right successor and, despite major corporations bidding for the store, it was given to the passionate intern," he said.

"I hope this is the same story that unfolds in [Ron's] flag shop."

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In a time when protests were constant, people were revolting, and we were seeking identity, Mr Strachan said the world we lived in now looked to flags more than ever.

"There will always be a place for flags," he said.

"A flag friend in Canada has recorded 140,000 flag images around the world, between military flags, school flags, pride flags — this will keep growing."

And what excited him further was seeing a new generation of flag enthusiasts.

"Only at the most recent conference in Sydney, a 12-year-old boy attended with his father and what he knew about flags blew my mind," Mr Strachan said.

"Flags do become a life passion."