TWO Dick Smith stores in the northern suburbs are closing as part of a rationalisation of the electronics chain.
The Epping Plaza and Westfield Plenty Valley stores are holding closing sales, but a spokeswoman for the owner of the chain, Woolworths, could not confirm the closure dates.
The spokeswoman, Bianca Agius, also said she could not respond to questions about whether staff would be redeployed or why the stores were closing. The closures do not appear to signal a widespread downturn in the northern suburbs retail sector.
A Westfield spokeswoman, Julia Clarke, said the Dick Smith store at Plenty Valley had been leased to an unnamed tenant, while the only other vacancy in the 180-shop centre had also been leased.
The Epping Plaza centre manager, Colleen Bell, said its Dick Smith store would be replaced with a discount variety shop. The plaza currently had a 1 per cent vacancy rate, she said.
Woolworths signalled the closure of 100 under-performing stores nationally this year as part of its plan to sell the chain.
