Myer Knox City: Myer Coffee Lounge set to move to Eastland

After more than 40 years, Myer Knox is entering its final weeks, with exclusive offers for shoppers.

Shoppers are being invited to grab a bargain, as Myer prepares to close its store at Knox City after more than 40 years.

It comes as the owners of the Myer Coffee Lounge look set to move their business to Eastland.

Paul and Paulina Vong, the owners of the cafe inside the Knox Myer, had been facing an uncertain future, with the impending closure of the department store in July.

The couple has run the cafe on level three of the store for the past 12 years.

Mr Vong said Myer had now offered the couple the chance to move their business into an empty coffee shop space at the Eastland Myer.

He said the details were still being worked through, but he expected the move to go ahead.

“It’s smaller, but I’ve got no choice (about moving),” Mr Vong said.

The new cafe at Eastland will seat about 40-50 people, compared to the space at Knox which seats 140 guests.

Mr Vong said the previous owner of the Eastland Myer coffee shop, which is on the ground floor, had left in January, and the shop was now empty.

He said his customers were very sad to see the cafe leave Knox, as many were elderly and lived nearby.

A Myer spokesperson said: “We are continuing to have positive discussions with the cafe owners about the option of continuing to trade at our Eastland store, and hope to have more to say on this shortly.”

Myer’s final day of trading at Knox will be July 25, with shoppers invited to grab a bargain before it shuts it doors.

“With only a matter of weeks to go, on top of our current Stocktake Sale promotions, we will have some fantastic exclusive deals across all categories, and every part of the store, to thank our loyal Knox customers who have shopped with us for more than 40 years,” the spokesperson said.

“So get into store to take advantage of some great deals throughout June and July.”

Myer is closing after more than 40 years at Knox Shopping Centre. It opened its doors in 1977.

On Knox Leader’s Facebook page, customers shared their memories of the store.

“I did work experience at Myer Knox. And then got my first part time job there. Some really great memories,” Simone Clancy said.

Patricia Tonner said she worked at the store for 20 years in the menswear department and loved it.

“My four kids also worked there as casuals when teenagers. Wonderful memories,” she said.

Melinda Conn remembered her Christmas job in the toy department back in 1979.

“Always a favourite Myer to visit,” she said.

Vicki Dwyer said she lost her three year old son in the store’s elevator.

“Turned my back for a few minutes and he went down a level, most frightening experience of my life,” she said.

Laila Hamad said she loved visiting the perfume department.

Andrew Neill shared this photo of his Mum’s old Corolla driving into the Myer carpark at Knox City.

Others remembered lining up and camping out for concert tickets at the old Bass outlet on the top level of the store.

“(I remember) lining up for John Farnham tickets outside of Myers in 1990,” Rebecca Speed said.

Sophie Hastings remembered going to the store with her mum to visit the restaurant, the Christmas floor upstairs and the chocolate section.

“Makes me think of my mum,” Wendi Emmerson said.

“It was special to buy at Myer back in the day. And the Christmas shop when I was little was magical.”

When announcing the store’s closure, Myer said it would support all impacted team members through a period of consultation and would look to redeploy as many team members as possible.

“In making this decision, we have taken into account our rising online sales, as well as the number of Myer stores that are in proximity to the Knox store including Eastland, Fountain Gate, Chadstone and Frankston,” Myer said in a statement.

Westfield Knox owner Scentre Group revealed Woolworths is set to replace Myer, with plans for the supermarket to open on level one of the current Myer store.