Brendan Simpkins

TWO businesses in the Gawler Homemaker Centre in the space of a week have closed their doors.

Sunrise Bakery at the shopping complex shut up shop with a notice to customers attached to the door of the establishment.

High rent was attributed as a key reason for the decision to close.

“Due to the high rent and the amount of unoccupied shops in this complex it is no longer viable for us to operate in this location,” the notice read.

Sunrise’s other locations at Lyndoch, Angaston and Truro are still open for business.

On Monday, That’s Furniture and Bedding followed suit, announcing its Homemaker Centre business would also close later this month.

In a statement posted to the business’ Facebook page, it was announced that trading would cease at the location as of January 31.

Co-owner Karl Ats said a combination of factors had gone into the decision to close the stores, including road works on the nearby Gawler East Link Road, vacant tenancies at the Homemaker Centre, the impacts of COVID-19 and the Homemaker Centre being re-zoned from bulky goods to accommodate a supermarket.

All of the current staff will be re-deployed to their Marion store, which will also handle laybys, delayed orders and honour existing warranties.

Mr Ats expressed his disappointment over That’s Furniture no longer having a presence in the north given its expected population surge over the coming years.

However, he did not rule out a return to the area down the track, should a suitable location ever develop.

“This is the growth area of Adelaide, we want to maintain and try and find a tenancy in the north,” he said.

“In the meantime Marion is going to take care of everything.”

That’s Furniture is holding an end-of-lease sale until the store shuts at the end of the month.

That’s Furniture opened at the Homemaker Centre in 2013 but had served Adelaide’s northern suburbs and the Barossa Valley for 12 years.