By Kymberly Martin
Mt Isa site severely damaged.
Fire extensively damaged the Harvey Norman store at Mt Isa last night. All stock is understood to have been affected with potential loss to stock, internal fittings and fixtures worth several million dollars, Harvey Norman chief operating officer, John Slack-Smith told AR.
“We are looking at our options as quickly as possible to find temporary premises and hopefully this will happen as early as next week. In conjunction with this we will look at longer term opportunities but at this stage it is too early to call whether the current site, which is leased, can be rebuilt. Whatever the final decision is it will be in the best interest and the best solution for our customers and the franchisee, Brian Bower.” He said there are no issues or delays getting stock from suppliers.
Police are treating the fire as suspicious and are conducting an investigation into the circumstances as to how the fire occurred. “We have no further information at this stage and are supporting police with their inquiries,” Slack-Smith said.
The fully franchised store opened in August 2003.