Wilsons Fruit and Vegetables Lucas store to close in May 2023, Mair Street flagship to remain open

Retail and hospitality businesses are staying put in Lucas despite the departure of one of its biggest drawcards.

Stems Flower Market and Orchard Cafe have both confirmed they will continue to trade as normal after the May 21 closure of Wilsons Fruit and Vegetables market, with which they share a building on Coltman Plaza.

Stems owner Richard McClure told The Courier he was in negotiations for a new tenancy agreement for the Lucas location and was "hopeful the process will be positive" and that the business could "continue to build on [its] nine years of being part of the Lucas community".

"At this stage, Stems remains committed to Lucas and the local community," Mr McClure said.

Orchard Cafe owner LeRoy Hand told The Courier he'd received more than 50 panicked phone calls after the announcement of the Wilsons closure.

But Mr Hand assured customers he had no plans to follow suit.

"We're in the process of renegotiating our lease already... so as far as we're concerned, the cafe will continue trading as normal," Mr Hand said.

Mr Hand was looking forward to a new tenant taking over the Wilsons retail space.

"We would be very hopeful another brand as good as Wilsons - that has that incredible family reputation that we all love - [moves in] because there's absolutely no doubt they brought a large part of our customer base to us as well," he said.

Wilsons business development manager Melanie Fulcher confirmed the cafe and florist businesses were separate entities to the green grocer and each subject to their own lease.

Like Wilsons, the cafe and florist's owners operate other venues in the CBD: The Turret Cafe on Sturt Street and Stems Flower Market on Mair Street.

PREVIOUSLY:

The owners of a well-known Ballarat family business have assured dozens of staff their jobs are safe despite an impending retail store closure.

Wilsons Fruit and Vegetables announced on Tuesday its Lucas store will permanently close from May 21 after owners were "unable to reach a viable option for the future".

"With heavy hearts, we have made the difficult decision to close the Lucas store," a media release stated.

"This decision may seem sudden, however we have been working to find a way forward for the Lucas store for some time."

The store opened in 2014 as a second location for the Mair Street-based green grocer.

General manager of business operations Peter Wilson confirmed all of its 33 staff would be redeployed to the Mair Street store.

Mr Wilson said the Lucas closure arose out of "end of lease circumstances" and was "not necessarily our [the owners'] preference".

He said Lucas customers could continue to access Wilsons products online, as well as at the recently renovated Mair Street store, which provides off-street parking and a home delivery service.

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In terms of searching for a new location for a second store, Mr Wilson said for now the focus was on "putting all energies and resources into Mair Street" but "who knows what the future holds".

The Lucas store opened in response to customer feedback supporting a second location.

It was expected at the time to help realise the vision for a vibrant and diverse Lucas neighbourhood centre.

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