It was June 2020 when Wesfarmers, the chain's parent company, announced that the Benalla store would be shut down.
With the announcement that some Target stores would be converted to K mart stores, some in town were hopeful.
Once it was confirmed that the Benalla store would not be one of those, Mayor Danny Claridge wrote to Target Australia managing director Marina Joanou requesting the location be either saved, or re-branded as K mart.
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Her response was not what locals wanted to hear.
Ms Joanou said, at the time, the stores which would be re-branded as K mart were selected based on a range of criteria including:
● Network location; and
● Population catchment being large enough to make the K mart Hub model work.
She confirmed that the Benalla store did not, in Target Australia's view, meet this criteria.
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The company has not elaborated on the timeframe of ‘early-late 2021'.
There is a Target and a K mart in both Wangaratta and Shepparton which means that people with transport will still be able to shop at either brand.
However, as Cr Claridge said in June, Benalla has a high level of economic disadvantage and poor public transport links to other regional towns, meaning many will not have that option.
“Not everyone is comfortable shopping online,” Cr Claridge said in June.
“How do you get a train to Wangaratta and back in a reasonable time?
“Generally you will be waiting hours for the return service.”
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