It’s been a long and painful goodbye for staff and customers at the ABC Shop in Westfield Miranda, which will close its doors for the last time on Sunday.
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The outlet has been a much-loved part of the centre for many years, but sales have dropped in the digital age.
Emotions have run high as the last day approaches.
The national broadcaster announced in July last year the closure of 50 ABC Shops across the country, with a move to online sales.
ABC Commercial, a division which manages the ABC Shops, has been gradually implementing the decision as retail leases expire.
The Miranda store has been running a “50 per cent off” sale ahead of the shutdown.
A spokeswoman for ABC Commercial said all stores would be closed by the end of March.
The staff at the stores, as well as those in head office providing support, had been made redundant.
“It is not a decision that has been taken lightly,” she said.
“It will be an extremely tough time over the next weeks and months.”
The spokeswoman said close relationships had developed between many staff and many customers.
When the decision was announced last year, then managing director Mark Scott said customers were digitally downloading the content they had previously obtained from the stores.
“All our advice is that the shops are now not making money," he told ABC radio’s AM program.
"They've made a lot of money over the years [but] they're not making money now.
"It's very hard to project them making significant money in the future and we can't cross subsidise a retail business by taking money out of broadcasting and investing it to prop up a retail business anymore."
ABC Commercial director Robert Patterson said at the time the strategy would “create a more cost effective, nimble and flexible approach to servicing customers”.
"The ABC is confident that this new strategy will ensure continued audience engagement,” he said.
