The Warehouse proposes closure of jewellery counters
Wednesday, 21 April 2021
The Warehouse has confirmed it is proposing to close its jewellery counters but isn’t saying how many jobs are on the line.
Rumours of the proposal surfaced last week after staff were called to meetings held on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a spokesman confirmed The Warehouse had shared a proposal to remove the counters from its stores, replacing them with a “contemporary jewellery zone”.
”Before any decision is made, we are seeking feedback on this proposal and will be using this information to form our decision on the best way forward.”
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If the proposal goes ahead, the jewellery specialist role would be disestablished. The company expected to be able to redeploy “the majority” of its jewellery staff into other roles, he said.
A decision on the proposal was expected next month.
Last month The Warehouse Group, which includes The Warehouse, Noel Leeming, Warehouse Stationery and Torpedo7, reported a record first-half profit of $55 million, up from $29.2m on the year before.
The profit included the repayment of its $67.6m Government wage subsidy in December and an $11.3m charge for restructuring.
The Warehouse was among retailers which had benefited from a bounce back in trading as consumers spent up following the alert level 4 lockdown.
The pandemic came at a time when the company was on the cusp of major restructuring, which resulted in some stores closing, hundreds of jobs lost and changes to rosters which it said were necessary to respond to shifts in shopping behaviour.