The Inverell Chamber of Commerce President yesterday said he predicted almost one in three businesses would feel the pinch.

“We anticipate that 30 per cent of the businesses in town will be affected by Big W opening, either directly or indirectly, and those businesses that are directly affected will lose 30 to 40 per cent of their business.

“While we don’t want to be too negative, it is a possibility that some businesses will either have to lose staff or close as a result of the retail pressure from Big W.”

While it is anticipated that Big W will create 140 new jobs, Mr Michael said the Chamber of Commerce wondered what the cost would be to existing businesses.

“The jobs that Big W will create are great, but I believe that some of those positions will be filled by people who can no longer work for their old employers thanks to heightened retail pressure.

“Realistically, Big W has a huge range of products, from footwear to pet products, groceries, clothes, gardening equipment and more so the businesses that will be affected are going to be across the whole range.”

He said the Chamber of Commerce was confident that businesses in Inverell would be able to survive Big W if they were proactive.

“We believe that business will be able to survive when they employ a few techniques to remain competitive, and we are fortunate enough to have a professional speaker from the NSW office of Industry and Investment, Bob Johnson.”

Mr Michael said the guest speaker will be covering a range of subjects that will make businesses more competitive.

Mr Johnson will be covering a range of topics that will help local businesses to be seen in the times ahead, including visual merchandising, customer loyalty techniques and how to celebrate the things that make small businesses different from large competitors.

Mr Michael said that while there were challenges ahead for the Inverell business community, the Chamber of Commerce is focussing on remaining competitive.

“We are certainly not sitting on our hands waiting for things to change, by being proactive we have a great chance of survival and we are focussing on promotional campaigns to keep visitors coming to town.”

He was urging all business people, not just members of the chamber, to attend the seminar tomorrow night.

The Wednesday night seminar at the Inverell RSM Club is free to attend and runs from 6pm to 9pm.

RSVP as soon as possible to Anthony Michael on 6721 1817.