About eight jobs at Geelong’s Australian Geographic store are under a cloud amid reports its owner could close the chain.
The 67 stores were likely to be “wound down” after Melbourne’s Myer family failed to find a buyer, Fairfax Media reported.
The family set a March 2017 deadline for lease-takeovers after the chain posted multi-million dollar losses in the past two financial years.
Staff at Australian Geographic in Westfield Geelong were “waiting to hear a bit more” from management, a team member told the Geelong Indy.
“It’s pretty shocking. We’re all quite saddened by it.
“Pretty much all we know is what’s been released.
“It’s understandable, it’s a business decision and we have to respect that.
“For the moment we seem to be staying open, hopefully through Christmas but there are no guarantees.”
The team member said the Geelong shop employed about eight staff working various hours.
“We’re still getting customers through and it still seems like a popular place.
“A lot of customers say it’s their favourite shop. It’s a unique store, so it would be sad to see it go.”
Australian Geographic could be the latest in a series of chain-store closures at Wesfield Geelong. The shopping centre lost Dick Smith, GNC LiveWell, Jaffle Jaffle and Jeep earlier this year and an ABC Shop in 2015.
