Myer rethinks due to slowdown

NATIONAL: Global economic pressures have implicated Myer's operations in three regional towns; Dubbo and Wagga Wagga (NSW), as well as Bendigo (Vic). The department store has withdrawn the sale of flagship sites in all three, claiming financial pressures no longer made the sales viable for shareholders. Myer executive chairman Bill Wavish said the stores were listed on the market in August as part of a strategy to divest Myer of its remaining freehold properties in favour of leasehold arrangements.

The sale of the stores was expected to generate proceeds of around $50 million. 

"Potential buyers would have been nervous at this stage," Wavish told regional newspaper Daily Liberal. "As you have no doubt read with the current economic climate we decided to withdraw it from the market."

According to the newspaper, the company had also planned to undertake major refurbishments of the Dubbo Myer building but this too had been scrapped for the time being.