Exclusive by Patrick Avenell
The former McKnights Retravision store in Mentone, Victoria, will cease operations on 4 January 2009. Staff at the store were told earlier this week that from that date they will be out of work.
This decision comes almost a year after the Retravision group purchased the five McKnights stores with the intention of selling the stores back to private ownership under the Retravision banner. Three of those stores, at Taylors Lakes, Moorabbin and Ringwood, have been sold. A fourth store, in Epping, is set to cease trading this December. This decision means that all five McKnights stores originally purchased will be out of the Group’s hands from early next year.
Although the decision to close this Mentone store has been confirmed by Retravision, details are currently scarce. In the case of the Epping closure, the decision was made when no buyer could be found by the time the lease came up for renewal.
Retravision Southern CEO Tim Cockayne told Current.com.au this morning that, "It’s just a closure of a non-performing store in the group," and chose not to elaborate further.