Kmart in the Hawkesbury: local mums' Facebook page boosts interest in local store

The page has almost 2,800 followers, showing just how much Hawkesbury wants Kmart.

Pitt Town’s Tara Harvey started the group in 2016 with friends Sharon Sparkl and Elise Smith, also from Pitt Town. Ms Harvey, who is 34 and has two kids under eight, admitted she and her friends were “mucking around” when they started the group, not realising how many other like-minded people there were.

“The Officeworks had just gone in at Mulgrave and we thought, ‘We have an Officeworks, now we need a Kmart!’ We just kept sharing and sharing the page, and it grew really quickly,” she said.

While they haven’t formally lobbied Kmart, they regularly tag the discount department store’s official page ‘Kmart Australia’ in their posts, and they’ve also sent messages “to remind them that we need a Kmart out this way,” said Ms Harvey.

“The nearest ones are at Stanhope Gardens, Penrith and Mount Druitt, which are all 30 minutes away, and longer for people who live over the river,” she said.

While Kmart hasn’t committed to opening a store locally, Ms Harvey said the company assured her they’d pass on her request.

“They’re quick to reply but they say they’ll pass it on to their planning team. We’re trying but we’re not getting anywhere!” she said.

So, why do Ms Harvey and the other mums love Kmart so much? “Because it’s so cheap and they have a bunch of variety. It’s good for day care clothes for the kids, homewares and party stuff, and last minute gifts,” said Ms Harvey.

She said she visits Kmart around twice a week - mostly the Stanhope Gardens store which closes at 10pm, but if she needs a late-night Kmart fix, she visits Penrith which is open 24 hours.

She and the other page admins met through their kids’ soccer. Now, they often get together when the kids are in bed, for a ‘Kmart run’.

“We’ll put our kids in bed and we all get picked up and off we go. We spend a couple of hours there and then we come home!” she said.

“The latest we’ve arrived is 11.30pm at Penrith and the latest we’ve come home was 1.30 in the morning!”

Ms Harvey said either Windsor or Richmond would be ideal locations for a Kmart, but personally, she’d be happy if one opened up anywhere in the Hawkesbury.

“It would do so well here. It would also boost the economy and create jobs,” she said.

The Gazette has contacted Kmart and we’re still waiting on the response.