Jobs to go as Bay FCO store set to close

Fishing Camping Outdoors Hastings was one of the first tenants of The Park Megacentre

Jobs will be lost from the Hastings branch of Fishing Camping Outdoors (FCO). It is one of 13 New Zealand stores to be closed by June, with the closures revealed in owner Super Retail Group's financial results.

The Hastings store was FCO's first to open in New Zealand, the third tenant in the large-format retail centre on the former Nelson Park site.

The FCO stores were to close because the business was unlikely to achieve the return-on-capital targets within a reasonable time period, Super Retail Group told investors.

The listed Australian company has budgeted A$20 million (20.9 million) restructuring costs for the closures, all in the North Island.

A FCO Hastings employee declined to comment, referring Hawke's Bay Today to an Australian public relations firm.

Phillips Group consultant Elizabeth Elliott said time and energy would be spent finding alternative jobs "across our extensive, multi-brand network with the aim of retaining as many of our FCO team members as possible".

Super Retail Group reported a half year profit of A$33.6 million ($35.1 million) , down 45.5 per cent.

Last year Australian outdoor retail chain Mountain Designs also shut its New Zealand stores, with the loss of 70 jobs.