Store Manager Debbie Davis and her 2IC Rachel Bigg were up before dawn to make sure everything was ship-shape for the opening of KMART in Yass on the 28th of January. The previous Target store closing on the 9th ready for the transformation to a KMART K-Hub.
“It was too big a job to do overnight, everything had to come out,” Ms Davis advised.
An arch festooned with balloons, a polite security officer advising on Covid and a smiling KMART staff member greeted curious shoppers as they entered the bustling store for the first time and observed the growing line of twenty people waiting to check-out their goods.
“We’ve got more variety, we’ve got toys, we’ve got stationary, we’ve got nursery back, things that we didn’t have before,” Ms Davis said.
Ms Davis noted the store had been similarly well attended since 8:30 that morning and by 1pm the crowd was showing no signs of abating.
“It’s been very well received by the town; it’s that simple. It’s brought in different people too,” observed Ms Davis.
The changeover has also created job opportunities with staff numbers doubling to nineteen.
“I’ve kept my same staff and I’ve hired another ten,” Ms Davis said.
The conversion to a K-Mart store has seen Yass escape the worse fate of closure which many regional and rural Target stores such as Cooma and Cootamundra under parent company Wesfarmers plan to close 75 stores and convert 52.
In a company statement last June, Yass Target was listed on the KMART conversion list and stated provisions were being made for staff to join the rebranded stores in 2021.
Yass Valley Times conducted an online survey at the time of our readers regarding the loss of Target and the conversion to K-Mart. With a reach of more than 16,000 with 7,684 clicks, shares and comments – it was a close call with just seven comments more in favour of K-Mart as the preferred store.
