Woolworths Abruptly Closes Big W Store
The Woolworths Group has abruptly shut the doors on a Big W store in south Brisbane.
The Calamvale store has ceased trading, effective immediately.
Last year Woolworths announced it would be reviewing its network of 138 Big W stores and conceded that up to 30 may close.
In a statement to 10 daily, a Woolworths Group spokesperson said the Calamvale store had been underperforming “for some time”.
The closure is not coronavirus-related.
“We have made the difficult decision to close our Calamvale store in Brisbane,” the spokesperson said.
"These decisions are never taken lightly, however as part of our ongoing network review, we need to monitor the future potential of each store and unfortunately this one has underperformed for some time.
"Under the terms of the lease at Calamvale, we’re obliged to cease trading immediately after giving the notice to terminate."
The spokesperson said the company regrets the short notice the closure gave staff and the community.
“We do not anticipate that any future store closures would be subject to such tight time frames.
“We are committed to doing the right thing by our team and will guarantee the redeployment of all current Calamvale team members to one of many neighbouring BIG W stores; whether they are full-time, part-time or casual.”
The store’s 70 staff will be redeployed to three other stores within seven kilometres of the Calamvale store— to Brown Plains, Upper Mount Gravatt and Underwood.
Due to the short notice, staff will be given three months to decide if they would like to take up a role at another store or opt for redundancy at the end of the transition period.