About 40 staff from The Warehouse are expected to be absorbed into other parts of the retail chain’s Bay of Plenty businesses after the sale of its central Tauranga store.
Tauranga City Council bought the property, which went unconditional on January 31, and plans to build a multi-sport facility. It proposes to create four new indoor basketball courts as part of the Memorial Park redevelopment plans.
The council would not say how much it spent on the purchase, citing commercial sensitivity, but the agent who led negotiations said it was a good deal and the council had saved millions.
The Warehouse regional manager Daniel Prew said closing the doors on the Cameron Road store was not an easy decision “but after looking at things like how the store’s been doing and how our customers shop, we had to make the tough call”.
It was hoped The Warehouse staff who had been based at the store would be moved to other Warehouse stores in the Bay of Plenty or the business’ other brands such as Noel Leeming and Warehouse Stationary.