Retailer to close Hobart store and relocate all operations to Moonah

A furniture and electrical retailer will close its Hobart city store this month after more than 100 years of trading from the property.

Coogans CEO Chris Brown in the Hobart store, which will close by the end of the month. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

FURNITURE and electrical retailer Coogans will close its Hobart city store this month after more than 100 years of trading from the Collins St property.

Coogans chief executive Chris Brown said the business would move all of its operations to its Moonah store.

Mr Brown said he expected the Collins St store would be shut down by the end of the month. He said it had been a tough couple of years for the city store, with work being carried out on nearby buildings in Collins St.

“We had a pretty rough couple of years with Collins St shut down,” he said.

But Mr Brown said Coogans’ finance and retail businesses had a bright future.

He said the Moonah store had a greater range of products and customers could park at the shop.

The company’s showroom in Brisbane St, Launceston, in 1886.

Mr Brown said Coogans had always had competitors but, being a Tasmanian company, it catered to a Tasmanian clientele.

“We offer a different service and we’ve got a very, very loyal customer base,” he said. The Hobart store closure would result in job losses, he said, but it was unlikely anyone would be forced to leave.

“There’s been a number of people who have put their hand up for voluntary redundancies,” he said.

Mr Brown is the great-great-grandson of William Coogan, who established the family business in Launceston in 1876.

The first Coogans factory in 1884.

Coogans opened a furniture factory in Hobart in 1903 and began offering a payment plan for the purchase of furniture, which has been a feature of the business ever since.

In 1912, Coogans opened its Collins St showroom. Coogans’ Launceston store closed in 1978.

Expressions of interest for the Collins St store closed last month. Real Estate agency Knight Frank said the four-level building could be used as is or demolished for hotel, residential or commercial uses.