About 40 jobs to go as K&D sells Glenorchy store building

HOME and building business K&D will close its Glenorchy store at the end of March.

K&D has sold its Glenorchy building and the store will close at the end of March.

HOME and building business K&D will close its Glenorchy store at the end of March.

“The staff have been advised and the shareholders have been advised,” Kemp and Denning chairman Greg Goodman said.

Mr Goodman said the store was closing because the building, on Derwent Park Rd, had been sold.

He would not comment on why the decision was made to sell the building.

The union representing the workers, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, said the closure would affect about 40 employees.

The union’s Tasmanian general secretary Paul Griffin said there was speculation late last year K&D’s Glenorchy store would close.

“It really was all speculation and nothing was being said,” Mr Griffin said.

“I did put in a formal request that they put in a process of consultation with the employees and that was done last Monday.”

A K&D employee who asked to remain anonymous said staff first found out from a member of the public that the store was on the market. The employee said staff were “devastated” the store was closing.

“They’re such good people and they’ve worked so hard over Christmas ... the saddest part of it is they’ve got so much knowledge; they really know their products,” the employee said.

Mr Griffin said the union was focusing on the redundancy packages offered to employees and redeployment opportunities, but he said he expected redeployment options to be limited.

“During February our meetings with the members will be stepped up to keep employees informed of what’s happening and where we might be able to assist,’’ he said.

“Some people are going to suffer through this and we’ve got to be mindful of their wellbeing.”

Mr Griffin said many of the employees had devoted most of their working life to K&D.

“Because they’ve devoted such a great proportion of their working life to K&D they’re at a point where it could be difficult to get further employment,” he said.

Mr Griffin said K&D employees at other stores were also worried about their future with the company.

“There’s been no formal information come forward ... members in other stores have concerns they might suffer the same fate down the track,” he said.

K&D opened its first warehouse store in Hobart in 1986.

The Glenorchy store opened in 1996, followed by Cambridge in 2008 and Devonport in 2013.

The company’s website says it employs about 260 people.