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Late on Friday evening a spokeswoman from Target Country confirmed their Inverell team was recently made aware that the store would close prior to Christmas.
"Target Inverell will be closing on November 16," she said.
"Target is working hard to ensure our Inverell team members can join another Target team at a store convenient to them or across the wider Wesfarmers retail businesses.
"Target wants to thank our Inverell team, the local community and all of our customers for shopping with us, and hope they will consider visiting us at www.target.com.au."
STORY SO FAR:
Staff at Inverell's Target store in Byron Street were told the shop would be closed down if its fortunes did not improve, now management and staff face the reality of possible unemployment.
An inside source who wished to remain anonymous informed the Inverell Times earlier this week about the decision to shut the doors of the large Inverell Target Country store.
The decision was a year in the making.
"We were told we will be out of work in December," our source said.
"They told us this would happen if things didn't pick up.
"Target are busy offering redeployment to its Inverell staff and management."
This decision seems a long way from 2003, the year the Inverell store came in as the number one in business for the July toy sale, an area in which the Target was then renowned.
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Inverell Shire Council Mayor Paul Harmon said while he had not been notified of the intention to close the store, it would be sorely missed by the community.
"Inverell not only caters for our community, but for the wider region as well," he said.
"This will effect not only the shopping community and employees. Closing our store will certainly be something, for a community struggling with the drought, to be disappointed about.
"I know there are a number of empty shops. Some of them are major retailers that have packed up and gone, and some were family businesses that closed and moved on."
Inverell bears the scars of this drought with more than 25 empty shop fronts.
Cr Harmon said the town was no different to many other retail communities.
"Things are tough, and things are getting tougher with the drought," he said.
"But we still have some iconic stores, where people are really hanging on and providing that boutique shopping flavour that Inverell is famous for."
Target Country had not accepted our invitation to comment when this article went to press.