JOBS BLOW: Discount supermarket NQR to close

TWENTY people will lose their jobs when Warrnambool's Not Quite Retail store closes its doors next week after the discount grocery chain went into voluntary administration.'Closing down sale' signs went up at the store yesterday as staff began packing up stock, preparing for the impending closure on Sunday, June 7.Melbourne's Ferrier Hodgson has been appointed voluntary administrators of the NQR chain, which has 25 stores and more than 400 employees across Victoria.The firm was also appointed administrators for The Co-Op when it collapsed in 2007 after recording its fourth consecutive loss. It is also the receivers for Sam's Warehouse, which moved into the former Co-Op site last year after the collapse of its parent company, Australian Discount Retail.Ferrier Hodgson partner John Lindholm said he planned to continue trading NQR on a business-as-usual basis while marketing it for sale but yesterday confirmed the Warrnambool and St Albans stores would close. The closure will result in redundancies for two full-time and two part-time staff and 16 casuals are also set to lose their jobs.The discount grocery store only opened its doors at Bayside City Plaza, the re-developed Co-Op site, in October last year.Mr Lindholm said it became clear very quickly that the Warrnambool and St Albans stores were unlikely to be part of the business going forward."It is disappointing the closures will cost jobs, but they will leave NQR in a stronger position for restructuring and enhance the prospect of achieving a going-concern sale for the balance of the business," he said. The closures leave the NQR business with 23 stores and about 370 employees.NQR was established 20 years ago as a discount variety retail outlet selling a range of excess stock, discontinued lines and supermarkets' cancelled orders.The three companies in administration include Not Quite Right Pty Ltd, Not Quite Right Holdings Pty Ltd and Retail Holdings 90C Pty Ltd.