By Mitchell Clarke
Retail-deprived shoppers flocked to Kmart at Fountain Gate in the middle of the night, as the retail giant reopened its doors for the first time in over 80 days.
Keen Kmart fanatics were finally able to ditch online orders and click and collects, to instead freely suss the shelves in-store from 12.01am on Wednesday morning, 28 October.
Kmart Australia retail director John Gualtieri said the retailer had people lining up hours before some stores were set to open.
“The excitement and energy ahead of opening has been electric and we wish to thank our customers for their patience during this time and our team working tirelessly to keep up with demand,” he said.
“We understand it is a unique moment for many, and we are committed to delivering a safe and seamless shopping experience to all the community.”
It’s been a long few months for all Melburnians and with Christmas on the horizon, south east shoppers wasted no time.
Shopper Laura, from Berwick, was one of the first customers in-store. She said she just couldn’t wait to get back.
“Kmart is the best, I’ve really missed it during lockdown, so I had to come down for the reopening,” she laughed.
“I mean, how can you not love it? It’s got everything you could ever need.”
Another shopper, Kerry, travelled all the way from Wantirna South to go to Kmart.
“The Burwood Kmart looked too busy, so I thought I’d come to the next closest one,” she said.
Asked why she didn’t wait until Wednesday morning for her local Knox store to open, she said she’d waited long enough.
“It’s been a very long time and I’m sick of doing click and collects,” she laughed.
Kmart have put in place a number of Covid safe plans to ensure their stores are as safe as possible for customers.
Measures include store visitor number limits, the introduction of a Covid marshal patrolling stores, extended trading hours and an optional online booking system so customers can immediately jump queues.
But according to Kmart’s online booking service, the Fountain Gate store was fully booked for opening day.
