Liz Purtell has been working at Griffin Plaza since the day it opened in 1997. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Women’s clothing store Autograph Griffith, located in shopping mall Griffin Plaza, will stop trading on 26 October.
The announcement comes a day after parent company Mosaic Brands said it would be winding up five of its brands – Autograph, Rockmans, Crossroads, W.Lane and BeMe – meaning more than 200 stores will shut their doors nationwide.
Griffith’s Rockmans store, on Banna Avenue, says it has not been advised of an imminent closure. Wagga’s Autograph store has also not made an announcement on its future.
Mosiac says its other brands Millers, Noni B, Rivers and Katies and the standalone online Mosaic marketplace will remain open.
“Mosaic will wind down five brands which have become marginal and non-core, allowing us to focus on five core growth brands,” CEO Erica Berchtold said in a statement shared across media on Tuesday (1 October).
“Whilst the operational details of the rationalisation plan, including store closures, continue to be worked through, we will seek to minimise the impact on our team, including where possible reassigning impacted team members into roles within the five core brands.
“Our ‘Focus on Core’ is a growth-driven strategy to retain existing customers and attract new ones. Central to this strategy, Mosaic will continue to focus on servicing regional Australia.”
Longstanding Autograph Griffith manager Liz Purtell made the announcement about her store on Facebook.
“It is with a heavy heart I and my staff are sad to say Autograph Griffith will be closing our store on the 26 October for the final time.
“After my 27 years of Griffin Plaza I have made many friends, served lots of wonderful people and all the staff I’ve had over the years are lifetime friends of mine.”
Griffin Plaza on its opening day when you couldn’t find a park. Photo: Griffith Genealogical and Historical Society.
Ms Purtell is the only staff member who was working in Griffin Plaza on the day it first opened in 1997 who remains employed at the mall today.
At that time, the store she occupied was another Mosaic brand, Millers clothing store.
“We were here as Millers for about 15 years, then Millers moved up the street and we became Autograph, which was part of the same company … I’ve seen lots of things come and go but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve done,” she previously told Region.
She said retail was in its heyday in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before the internet and online shopping began to eat away at the revenue base of physical stores.
“We used to have dress-up days, fashion parades, and an Elvis day where we’d all dress up and have Elvis turn up in the store before he left the building. We all wore rock ‘n’ roll skirts and had big posters … out the front we would have a catwalk and customers would be our models.”
Mosiac Brands Pty Ltd were contacted for comment.
According to the company’s 2023 annual report, its total yearly revenue has steadily declined over the past four years – from $882 million in 2019 to $567 million in 2023.
Original Article published by Oliver Jacques on Region Riverina.
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