Westfield Knox: Myer Coffee Lounge facing closure

The demise of the Westfield Knox Myer may also spell the end for another much-loved place to grab a feed.

Paulina and Paul Vong from Myer Coffee Lounge Knox were shocked to hear the department store would be closing.

The owners of a cafe inside Westfield Knox Myer are facing an uncertain future, with the impending closure of the department store.

Paul and Paulina Vong have run the Myer Coffee Lounge on level three of the store for the past 12 years.

The news Myer would be closing its store at Knox on July 25 was a huge shock, Mr Vong said.

“All the Myer staff were crying, some have worked here for 30, 40 years,” he said.

“We’re going to lose a lot of money, and we have a mortgage to pay, all our staff have a mortgage to pay.”

Mr Vong said many of the cafe’s customers, including a lot of older people and retirees, were very upset about it closing.

“A lot of our customers have been asking where am I going to go (when you close)?” he said.

Mr Vong said they had been talking to Myer about possibly moving the cafe to the Myer store at Eastland.

He said they would prefer to stay at Knox, if they could continue paying the same amount of rent.

The 140-seat cafe is open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea.

Myer Holdings Limited announced last month it would be shutting its store at Westfield Knox, which opened in 1977, in July.

“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.

“Myer will support all impacted team members through a period of consultation and will look to redeploy as many team members as possible.”

A Myer spokesperson said: “We know that this recent decision is a difficult one and we are doing all we can to support team members, as well as those businesses and concessions that operate in our Knox store that will be affected by this.

“We have been, and will continue to speak to the cafe about any potential opportunities that may exist in other stores, and we thank them for the contribution they have made to the Myer Knox store over many years.”

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.