By Patrick Avenell
The Harvey Norman Penrith store that was devastated by fire in February 2012 will be back to full operational status by early 2013, according to Frank Robinson from the store’s Computers division.
Located on Mulgoa Road, Penrith, in Sydney’s western suburbs, this Harvey Norman store is one of the country’s largest, hosting Bedding, Computers, Electrical & Small Appliances, Flooring, Furniture, Hardware and Bathroom & Tiles franchises.
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Although the fire destroyed much of the store, it has managed to continue trading during the renovations, though Robinson said this was heavily contracted.
“We’re still trading out of compressed floor space,” he said. “Trading has certainly been affected but there is light at the end of the tunnel because we’ve got our builders on site and they are changing the road and the roundabout to facilitate the construction.
“Hopefully by next March or April (2013), we’ll get the original space back and we are actually going to expand. We’ll expand about 30 per cent larger than the original floor space of the shop.
Robinson said he “can’t wait” for the store to return to its previous glory.
“It’s a bit of a challenge when you’re such a large store, with such large revenue, that we’re trading in approximately half the space that we were trading in before the fire."