UPDATE:
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A Target spokeswoman has confirmed today's announcement does not affect Targets store in Albury, Wodonga or Wangaratta.
All three stores will continue trading as usual.
The future of stores in Yarrawonga, Myrtleford and Corowa remains unclear.
A further update is expected in August and the company has indicated further store closures were expected.
EARLIER:
The future of Target and Target Country stores across the region is unknown, with parent company Wesfarmers refusing to confirm whether the stores will be shut amid a mass restructure that will see 167 stores closed or converted to Kmart.
Wesfarmers, which owns both Target and Kmart brands, yesterday announced 10 to 25 large Target stores and 50 Target Country stores would close.
The company did not respond to questions about the future of the Albury, Wodonga or Wangaratta stores.
Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott said to reduce Target's "unsustainable cost base" 10 to 40 large Target stores would be converted to Kmart stores, subject to landlord support.
He said 52 Target Country outlets would covert to small format Kmart "Hubs".
The company said there was a limit on how many Kmart stores it needed.
There are currently 284 Target and Target Country stores.
Albury's Target store first opened in 1970 and underwent a $1.5 million refurbishment in 2013 while Kmart Albury opened in 1985.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Across the border in Wodonga, Target has been present since 1980 while Kmart opened as part of the Mann Centre redevelopment in 2017. Yarrawonga Country Target opened in 1994 and moved to its new premises in 2013, while Corowa's Target Country opened in 2005 and Wangaratta's in 2014. Myrtleford Country Target relocated in 2007.
Mr Scott said lease obligations and how successful individual stores were would inform the decision to close, convert or leave the stores untouched.
He said they were not looking to have two Kmart stores located in the same shopping centre and the Target conversions were aimed to address gaps in the Kmart network.
Managing director of Kmart Ian Bailey said when considering converting Target Country's to Kmart "Hubs", they considered whether a Kmart was nearby and whether the store was below 1000sqm.
"If we have a Target Country right next to Kmart then we said you know what, it make sense to close that store," he said. "We do understand the impact [this will] have on regional community and it's not a decision we made lightly."
A further update is expected in August. The company has indicated further store closures were expected.