UPDATE: The owners of Hargreaves Mall News and Lotto have today notified customers the shop has closed.
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Signs on the front door earlier indicated the newsagency was closed for personal reasons, however a new sign says the shop has closed.
"It is with great regret that our store will no longer be open,'' the letter states.
"We are going to miss you all terribly and miss running our business day-to-day, but unfortunately circumstances do not permit us to trade any longer.
"We have had ongoing issues with over the past few months with some of our major suppliers and on numerous occasions not giving us a fair go because of what had happened to the previous store.
"Our biggest regret is that the community will miss out on having a store like ours in the mall and hope that someone else will follow their dreams and turn them into a reality like we did.''
Earlier: Hargreaves Mall News and Lotto remained closed this week, after a sign went up at the newsagency saying it would be temporarily shut.
A notice on the door on Thursday morning announced the family-owned newsagency was closed due to “personal reasons” but would reopen Monday, August 13.
By close of business yesterday the newsagency was still shut.
Owner of City Central newsagency and Bendigo Centre newsagency Terry Clohesy said his stores had seen a spike in customers as a result.
“We’ve had an increase in business over the week,” he said.
“A lot of people have come in and said they were a bit shocked the Mall newsagent was closed.”
Hargreaves Mall News and Lotto was taken over by new owners Justin Hyslop and Julie Wilkinson in November 2011.
It was previously known as Powney’s newsagency, which went into voluntary liquidation in April last year.
Powney’s newsagency had accumulated debts of about $780,000, forcing the business to close after 60 years of operation.
Julie Wilkinson told the Bendigo Advertiser last year the couple were not put off by Powney’s bankruptcy.
Mr Clohesy said the retail industry had provided challenges for newsagents but there was still a strong future.
He said he had seen a lot of changes over the 14 years he had owned the City Central store in Queen Street.
“It’s definitely not a good thing that happened to Powney’s, it was sad to see that,” he said.
Justin Hyslop and Julie Wilkinson did not return the Bendigo Advertiser’s calls last night.