Retailers hurting as Freedom Furniture staff stood down

The cinema chain owned by billionaire businessman Alan Rydge has called on the federal government to reintroduce JobKeeper while Freedom Furniture has stood down staff in NSW.

National furniture chain Freedom Furniture has been forced to stand down more than 100 staff across its stores in NSW

The cinema, hotel and ski-resort company Event Hospitality & Entertainment, chaired by billionaire Alan Rydge, has called for more help for large companies as lockdowns bite into operations.

The extended lockdown in Sydney has prompted cries for relief to go beyond smaller enterprises to large companies.

It comes as leading national furniture chain Freedom Furniture has been forced to stand down more than 100 staff across its stores in NSW as the protracted lockdown there robs it of business and tremors running through the nation’s $320bn retail sector threaten an employment disaster.

The Australian has confirmed that Freedom Furniture has decided to stand down 108 staff across eight stores in NSW, with the retailer requesting affected employees access annual leave, long service leave and time in lieu.

The retail sector is bracing for a tidal wave of job losses and staff stand downs, not just in NSW but also other parts of the country, as the limited government payments are not enough to keep businesses afloat.

Paul Zahra, chief executive of the Australian Retailers Association and a former CEO of department store David Jones, has said feedback from his retailer members was that wide-scale staff cuts would start to be triggered. He has also called for the return of JobKeeper.

Event, which owns a stable of cinema chains, hotels and tourism assets and received $41.7m under the JobKeeper scheme, has called for more payments as Sydney cinemas face long closures.

Event chief executive Jane Hastings said the expectation was that an effective vaccine rollout program would mean that the impact of snap lockdowns would be mitigated, and government support would no longer be required.

“In light of the current lockdowns … now impacting most of Australia, further support is required,” she said. “We are pleased the Business Support packages are being offered to small and medium businesses, but they are not applicable to large businesses with the most employees. We are actively pursuing all options via our industry bodies and through direct contact with government.”

Event also sold off a series of properties, as strict lockdowns crunch its cinema operation in Sydney and Melbourne.