Impending Closure of Target Country, Gilgandra

Published on 04 March 2019

Gilgandra Shire Council has received confirmation that the Target Country Gilgandra store will close on 6 July 2019. The news is extremely disappointing and Council plan to take all reasonable actions to convince Target Australia to reconsider their decision.

Mayor Cr Doug Batten said the timing could not be worse with the community and local businesses suffering the effects of the ongoing drought: 

“Target Country Gilgandra provides affordable clothing and other well priced household items. With the economic impact of the drought many people in the community rely on this business for their clothing needs. Target’s decision leaves the most vulnerable people in our community in a difficult position.”

Cr Batten added that along with the direct employment lost as a result of the proposed closure, the impact on other retail businesses is a concern:

“The direct loss of jobs and the impact of those loyal employees is an obvious concern, but Target has also been a drawcard business in our community, bringing people from surrounding communities who in turn support other businesses. It also keeps locals shopping locally.”

Late in 2018 Target announced a strategy to close 20% of its floor space across Australia.

Cr Batten said these high level corporate strategies are made in boardrooms with little consideration for the communities they impact:

“Gilgandra is just a location to the executive staff of Target but that store is a thing of pride and absolute need to our community. Target is part of Wesfarmers, an organisation that was founded in 1914 as a co-operative to provide services and merchandise to Western Australian farmers. 105 years later another farming community needs them to stay committed and I ask the community to support Council’s efforts to keep Target in Gilgandra.”

Council will request meetings with Target officials to encourage them to reconsider the decision.

Council believe a petition is unlikely to hold much weight with the executives of Target and ask the community to look at more modern methods to try to put Target in their sights.

This might include actions such as emailing or calling the corporate head office of Target, posting videos and stories about how important Target is to our community and/or contact national media outlets to try and shine a light on the decision of Target. The messages should be positive about how our community values the business and don’t want them to leave. A negative and abusive message will likely just see Target Australia close ranks and cut communication on the matter.

Cr Batten concluded by saying:

“Council will lead the charge but the community have to follow if keeping Target open is important to them. Council can’t be the only dog in this fight. There is no point complaining once the store has closed, we have to have a shot at preventing that from happening.” 

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