Iconic alternative body and bong store Off Ya Tree shuts its Hindley Street doors, among other stores across the country

An iconic body piercing and bong shop in Adelaide’s CBD has unexpectedly shut its doors amid other closures across the country.

Off Ya Tree store on Hindley Street, Adelaide has closed for good. Picture: File

An iconic body piercing and bong in Adelaide’s CBD has unexpectedly shut its doors, with one former staff member claiming staff were notified and left without a job on the same day of the closure.

Following a spate of store closures across the country, retail chain Off Ya Tree has now permanently closed its Hindley St shop on Wednesday.

The chain is well-known for its alternative edgy clothing, body piercings, jewellery, and bongs.

Off Ya Tree stores are vanishing at a rapid rate.

A former manager took to Reddit to share that staff members were left in the dark about the closure, after another user noticed the store was listed as “permanently closed” on Google.

“We found out at lunchtime today that the store was closing permanently from 3pm,” the user wrote. “Three other stores interstate closed today too, making I think six in total so far this year.”

“They’ve told us nothing, and I honestly doubt they will, but the store was losing massive amounts of money because we were just dead.

The Off Ya Tree shop has permanently closed. Picture: File

Off Ya Tree stores are closing.

“The location meant there wasn’t much in the way of foot traffic and there wasn’t a whole lot of marketing so we weren’t reaching new customers and you can’t pay the rent with nostalgia.”

The union representing staff claims the business had not fulfilled all its obligations to former workers.

“Off Ya Tree is in breach of their obligations in the Fair Work Act by failing to consult with workers on the union in relation to these closures,” SDA’s SA/NT secretary Josh Peak said.

“The SDA has written to the company to outline our concerns and requested they immediately clarify the status of workers’ notice period and redundancy pay.

“The way employees were treated when these closures were announced is not good enough.”

The store’s website has delisted Adelaide from its location listings, leaving 14 remaining stores in Victoria, Queensland, Canberra, Northern Territory and Tasmania.

Founder Kim Jouts first opened Off Ya Tree in the 1970s, after pivoting from a failing music business.

Originally published as Iconic alternative body and bong store Off Ya Tree shuts its Hindley Street doors, among other stores across the country