Yahoo Finance Target starts shutting Aussie stores: dates confirmed
Target has confirmed the dates for when certain stores will shut their doors amid a nation-wide restructure set to roll out this year.
Parent company Wesfarmers confirmed that three stores across Queensland would be closing its doors within days, The Courier Mail reports.
Queensland’s Longreach will close first, on 10 April, followed by Cairns’ Clifton Beach on 17 April and north Brisbane’s Kippa-Ring 24 April.
Another store in Cairns will close on 1 May, and a store in Townsville is scheduled to shut on 5 June.
A number of other Target stores will be converted to Kmart stores.
The announcement comes after the retailer announced May last year that it would be closing or converting stores into Kmarts amid “significant structural change and disruption” to the retail sector.
Between 10 to 25 ‘large format’ Target stores will be closed, alongside 50 Target Country stores, while 10 to 40 large format Target stores and 52 Target Country stores will be converted to Kmart stores.
Here’s a full list of the Target stores set to shut their doors or be converted in 2021.
Kippa-Ring Shopping Centre manager Jennifer Spratling confirmed the retailer was shutting doors on 24 April, the Courier Mail reported, with the closure to open up new retail opportunities.
“We have been working closely with Target for some time in planning for this departure, confirmed in early 2020, which provided us with the valuable opportunity to unlock retail space and enhance the Centre’s retail mix in line with our long-term masterplan,” Spratling said.
“At this stage we are working to finalise our plans for this space so it is still too early to share specific details, but we look forward to making some exciting announcements in the near future.”
A Target spokesperson thanked its teams, communities and customers for shopping with Target over the years.
"Our focus is on supporting our team through this time as we work through finding suitable redeployment within other Wesfarmers businesses as well as with other employers in town," the spokesperson said.
"The wellbeing and health of our team is our number one priority. Any permanent team members who we are unable to secure suitable redeployment will have access to all their entitlements."
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