Bathurst's Target outlet in the Armada Shopping Centre will be converted to a Kmart as part of restructure by parent company Wesfarmers, with all staff at the Bathurst Target store given the chance to join the Kmart team.

Bathurst's Target had not been included on Wesfarmers' original list of stores earmarked for conversion to Kmart, but speculation over the future of the store would not go away.

And this morning the issue was finally put to rest with a Kmart Group spokesperson confirming Kmart would be returning to Bathurst from October 29.

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"As announced recently, Target will transform its store network seeing a smaller number of stores and a focus on a stronger online business," the spokesperson said.

"Across the Kmart Group we want to build profitable and sustainable businesses and one of the ways we can achieve this is through optimisation of our store network. We have made a significant effort to avoid store closures and retain our team by converting suitable Target stores to Kmart stores.

"We can confirm that our Target Bathurst store will become a Kmart on 29 October 2020. All team members in Target stores scheduled for conversion to Kmart, including Bathurst, will be offered the opportunity to join the growing Kmart team."

The Target Group of stores has been struggling in recent years as Kmart has gone from strength to strength in Australia.

Across the group, Target Group sales declined by 1.5 per cent during the 2018-19 financial year and Wesfarmers closed 15 stores across Australia during this 12-month period.

In August last year, Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott said difficult trading conditions had "certainly impacted sales and earnings" for Target stores.

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