By Danielle Kutchel
Casey residents and those from further afield now have more choice when shopping for their family, with the opening of Kmart Casey Central.
The new Kmart replaces the Target store that had previously occupied the site.
Socially distanced shoppers respected queuing rules to enter the new store on Thursday 19 November, and trolleys were loaded with Christmas goodies, clothes, toys and homewares as customers grabbed themselves a bargain.
Just 15 days ago, the store was empty of products: now, the 5000-square space has been filled with the products customers know and love, from pie makers and air fryers to bicycles and shoes.
John Gualtieri , Retail Director Kmart’s Australia & New Zealand said: “We are so excited to be welcoming Kmart Casey into the family and open our doors to the local community just in time for Christmas.
“Our team have been working hard to bring this new store to life and it’s stocked full of great value, on-trend products that we know our customers are going to absolutely love.”
The majority of staff from the old Target have been retained and retrained; according to Mr Gualtieri , 47 Target team members transferred across.
An additional 104 team members have been recruited from the local community, in a much-needed jobs boost for the area.
Continuing the focus on community, the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal is already up and running.
The Wishing Tree Appeal supports The Salvation Army and is Australia’s largest and longest-running Christmas gift collection appeal, delivering more than eight million gifts to date.
With so many people struggling after the devastation of 2020, donations of gifts and money are most welcome.
Customers can leave a gift beneath the tree, donate in collection boxes at registers or add a donation to their transaction at self-service checkouts, or even donate online by scanning a Wishing Tree QR code that can be found in store.
The opening of Kmart fills a gap at Casey Central Shopping Centre, offering children’s clothes and homewares so that now the whole family’s needs can be picked up in one trip.
Louise Hurley, Casey Central Centre Manager said the rebrand of Target to Kmart has been eagerly awaited by the Casey Central community.
“It is something that our customers have been wanting for a long time, it’s come not a moment too soon! Kmart will be a great addition to the Casey Central retail mix, offering families another local place to shop for their daily household needs.”
Click and collect is still available, with Target orders also able to be collected from Kmart Casey Central. From next year, customers will even be able to pick up their Catch orders from the store.
The store is operating under a Covid-safe plan to keep all staff, customers and contractors safe. Shoppers can opt to skip the queue by booking a shop with Kmart online. If the store reaches capacity, customers can join the virtual queue service and carry on shopping elsewhere until they can be safely welcomed back into Kmart.
Kmart Casey Central will be trading 8am to midnight every day until Christmas.
