By Patrick Avenell
The Harvey Norman and Betta Home Living stores in flood-ravaged Gympie, 170 kilometres north of Brisbane, are both trading normally today while the Dick Smith Electronics outlet could be closed for weeks.
Despite the floodwaters peaking at a phenomenal 18.4 metres earlier this week, Glen Shepherd, proprietor of Shepherd’s Betta Home Living on Duke Street, told Current.com.au that his store traded without interruption through the flooding.
Shepherd, who also runs a store in Yeppoon, is a veteran of many floods and acted to avoid disruptions by moving his old Retravision store around 800 metres from the main street — Mary Street — in 2001.
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Taking up those premises in the town of almost 20,000 people was a Dick Smith Electronics outlet. Sources have told Current.com.au that this outlet at 177 Mary Street has been flooded and “probably won’t be able to open for weeks”. Current.com.au has not been able to contact the store though we have received confirmation of the closure through the head office’s PR representatives.
“The store in Gympie flooded with the initial floods, opened for one day and then flooded again the following day. There’s no known date for reopening yet,” we were told.
The Harvey Norman store on Edwin Campion Drive has been unaffected by the flooding. This store is well-above sea-level and was only forced to close this week as the road leading to the premises was cut off. A source at the store said “if this store was flooded the whole town would be underwater”.