Target to close up to 167 stores across Australia

Australia’s struggling retail sector has been dealt a new blow, with Target announcing up to 167 of the retailers 284 stores may shut down over the next year.

Wesfarmers, which owns Target, has today announced the closure of up to 75 Target and Target Country stores.

As many as another 92 will be converted to Kmart stores in the next 12 months.

The announcement was made in a note to investors this morning.

Professor Gary Mortimer, expert in shopping behaviour and food retailing at Queensland University of Technology, said Kmart ultimately won the battle for supremacy in the market.

“Shoppers have simply moved away from Target and walked straight into a Kmart store and picked up what they were looking for,” he said.

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