GRIFFITH’S Big W loss could be Leeton’s gain if one group has their way.
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The Leeton Chamber of Commerce and Industry would like to push to bring Big W to Leeton now it has been announced the Griffith store will be closing.
Chamber president Matt Gatt saw no harm in pushing for company to bring their business to Leeton.
“It’s definitely something we will be looking at,” he said.
“I’ll be chatting with council’s economic development co-ordinator (Monica Armanini) about what we can be doing to attract them here.
“I know there are a few of our councillors like Cr Nardi, Reneker and Smith who are very interested in building on our economy here.
“It’s certainly a conversation we can be having and if we can bring them here, it will be done.”
Late last week it was announced Big W would be shutting its doors with the final day of trading set down for April 15.
Eighty-five jobs will be lost as a result of the closure.
A spokeswoman for the company confirmed they were meeting with staff to explore options, including the option of redundancy for permanent team members and relocation to other stores and Woolworths brands.
Around 40 years ago, Big W was looking at coming to Leeton, but various issues meant they headed further down Irrigation Way to set up shop.
Many residents from Leeton have taken to social media to express their disappointment at the shut down.
“It would be good if it came over here to Leeton and Griffth got Kmart,” Trevor Slater wrote.
“There are buildings vacant for rent that would be able to house them.”
Some residents were also commenting they would now be having to do their shopping out of the region, which was something Mr Gatt discouraged.
“That’s definitely something you don’t need to be doing … don’t go to Wagga, those businesses don’t need you,” he said.
“It’s our local retailers here that do and that’s who we should support.”