H&J Smith will close its Dunedin department store in January next year.
The company had signalled the closure this week and confirmed the news in a press statement yesterday.
The Meridian Mall shop is set to shut its doors on January 30.
The Armoury Store, which is in the Wall St precinct, will also shut then.
The decision will affect 85 workers at the Dunedin stores.
"While I appreciate this will be very difficult for our Dunedin-based staff, I am pleased to be able to provide certainty so they can now plan for their futures,” H&J Smith managing director Jason Smith said.
"We deeply regret the impact the Dunedin department store closure will have on our employees and their families, as well as the community."
The distance of the Dunedin store from H&J Smith’s other operations meant redeployment was unrealistic for most of the workers, Mr Smith said, but it would be considered for those staff happy to relocate.
"We are working closely with our staff to ensure we are able to provide our high level of service to our customers until we close in January next year."
The company’s Te Anau and Balclutha stores will close at the end of next month.
The Gore store will downsize in August and the Outdoor World in Queenstown will shut then, too.
"The company has been significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and is also grappling with issues like increasing wage and compliance costs, store size and scale and an ageing store network in need of capital expenditure," it said.
"Consolidating its operations" to its Invercargill store, would secure the long-term future of its retail division.
"We’ve been working in the background with the Dunedin mall owners and managers to finalise terms. Late yesterday we received the necessary legal documentation to allow us to firm up exit dates,” Mr Smith said.
Other businesses operated by the H&J Smith Group — Mitre 10 Mega in Invercargill and Queenstown as well as Laser Electrical in Invercargill — were not affected.
