Big W stores in Chullora, Fairfield and Auburn to be closed
The Big W store at Chullora Marketplace will be closed within six months, with more than 80 jobs on the line.
As part of a major restructure of Big W, the discount department store giant’s Fairfield and Auburn stores will also be closed from next January, leading to the loss of hundreds of jobs. The three stores are the only ones in NSW to be closed out of 30 planned to be shut down across Australia.
The Chullora store is located in the popular Chullora Marketplace shopping centre and its closure within six months will be a massive blow to the community. It is the largest store in the centre and once gone it will leave behind Woolworths and Aldi as the next biggest tenants.
Big W has been trading for nearly 40 years in Chullora and will close at the end of January 2020. The Express asked Big W how many employees would lose their jobs but a spokeswoman would only say that Big W stores typically employ between 80 to 100 staff.
Big W managing director David Walker said it was not a decision they took lightly.
The Fairfield store is located at Neeta City Shopping Centre while Big W’s Auburn outlet has been at Auburn Central for several years.
Big W had announced nationwide closures on April 1 but today’s announcement will come as a shock to residents, shoppers and staff.
The news stunned many residents with Cameron Jones saying on the Fairfield Advance Facebook page: “How sad is this? My favourite store to shop at now have to deal with travelling to wetherill park big w & messing with traffic just to get a parking spot.”
Another reader, Collin Metcalfe, said: “Won’t be many shops left in Neeta City for their new car park if that’s what they are planing to use the space for.”
Reanna Brooks posted on The Express Facebook page: “Used to be my fav big w when I lived there.”
Anna Vergos also reacted on The Express FB page: “This is disappointing”.
Big W said it would offer re-employment to the employees losing their jobs.
“Our commitment is to put our team first and redeployment is our key focus at this time,” a Big W spokeswoman said.
“We will give every redeployment opportunity available to team members in other Big W stores or across the Woolworths Group in the coming months.
“We have made no further store closure announcements at this time, and we have committed to our team, customers and community that once an agreement has been reached with a landlord, we will give at least three months’ notice of any store closure.”
IN OTHER NEWS
The three NSW stores are a part of 30 stores across Australia and two distribution centres (Queensland and South Australia) scheduled to shut within three years.
“We regret the impact the closures will have on affected team members,” Mr Walker said today.
“We would like to acknowledge the support of the communities of Chullora, Auburn and Fairfield and the hard work and commitment of our store team members.
“Supporting our team remains our priority and we are committed to doing the right thing
by them.
Mr Walker said his company would work with landlords over the coming months as part of the network review.
He said they remained committed to building a strong and sustainable BIG W that meets the needs of Australian families.
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