ABC Shops To Close Around Australia, As Mark Scott Declares A “Grim Outlook” For 300 Retail Staff

When I was old enough to go to shopping centres alone, the ABC Shop was always my first stop. A triple j pencil case or t-shirt was an easy way to show classmates and strangers on the train that I was both ready and willing to talk about Jebediah’s new album; they’d change the design every so often, and I always ran in to check.

It was also where I’d buy Christmas presents for my family and friends. These presents bottled down almost exclusively to David Attenborough documentaries, seasons of Blackadder, and old recordings of BBC Radio 4’s 1960s comedy radio show I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again. I was a really dorky kid. Another reason why that triple j merch was important, and why this morning’s news hit home.

The ABC has today announced it will be shutting the doors to all 50 of its retail stores around Australia, with up to 300 staff set to lose their jobs. With the closures rolling out over the next few months, the broadcaster will be focusing its retail efforts on the online store and its 78 ABC Centres, the branded sections you find in other retailers like Dymocks — although it’s expected some of these will be slowly be phased out too.

“This strategy aligns with the changing retail environment, as consumers increasingly access content digitally through subscription services and downloads and purchase physical products online,” the ABC said in a statement. “It is no longer possible for the ABC to sustain a large network of leased stores.”

The news was delivered to the retail staff in a briefing meeting on Wednesday night. Clare O’Halloran, who has worked at the flagship shop in Ultimo for for two years, told us that from her experience, one of the biggest consumer bases to be hit will be Australia’s grandparents — the main purchasers of “weird documentaries on steam trains”, “strange English comedies from the ’60s” and Australian-made merchandise from the kids’ section, which they buy for their grandkids.

“Our shops are a valuable connection between the broadcaster and public that other channels do not have, and I think it’s a shame that we are losing that,” she said. “For a lot of older people the ABC Shop is their first port-of-call, via the phone or in-person — for anything, be it explanations of new technology, technical assistance for iView, complaints about program delays, or just a chat about how ‘That Mark Scott really is doing the best he can, given the circumstances’ … This demographic is a huge contributor to the revenue ABC shops make and I think a lot of them will be lost because they won’t be able to access the online store in the same way we do.”

Thoughts with 300 ABC Shop staff today. They were always so kind when The Chaser team would visit to flog our ridiculous wares. All the best

— Dom Knight (@domknight) July 22, 2015

@mscott I don't want to buy all my ABC Shop presents online. I like the shops. You have ace staff. Tony Abbott – this is ALL your fault.

— Bronwen Healy (@FamousPony46) July 22, 2015

That awkward moment when you lose your job… #ABCshop

— Kieran O'Connor (@_kieranoconnor) July 22, 2015

In an interview with ABC News 24 this morning, Mark Scott explained the closures. “The business has changed — I think we all know that,” he said. “The ABC shops in this last year have been operating at a loss, and all the advice that we have had indicates it would not be possible for us to be able to run a chain of stores like this profitably into the future. We can’t be in the situation where we’re taking money from broadcasting, and investing that to prop up a retail business.”

ABC was able to sustain its physical shop network longer than nearly all other public broadcasters: BBC shut its shops about 10 years ago

— Mark Scott (@mscott) July 22, 2015

He also spoke of the 300 staff who were told last night of the news. “It’s a grim outlook for them, and they understand that,” Scott said. “We have provisions in our staffing agreements here to look for reemployment, but there’ll be many of them who won’t have immediate jobs with the closure of the stores over the coming months, so we’ll be looking after them as best we can.” The ABC will be funding the redundancy costs through the future earnings of ABC Commercial, of which ABC Retail is one part.

The staff were informed that most of the shops would be open for Father’s Day, and some would still be open for Christmas, as the shops are slowly phased out over the next twelve months.

Vale ABC shops- the one place you could shop for kids without being bombarded by American superheroes.

— sandra watson (@sandrajwatson) July 22, 2015

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Feature image via ABC Shop on Google Plus.