About 100 Sunbury workers could lose their jobs after Woolworths said it may off-load all its Masters hardware stores.
A Woolworths spokeswoman said there were close to 100 employees in a mix of full-time, part-time and casual roles at the Vineyard Road store.
The company last week said it was going to either sell or wind up its home improvement business, which includes Masters.
Woolworths chairman Gordon Cairns said it was forced to make the hard decision to exit the chain as it would take “many years” for Masters to become profitable.
“We intend to pursue an orderly prospective sale or wind-up of the business,” he said.
He said the process would take at least two months to complete.
A “potential sale process or other exit process will take additional time,” Mr Cairns said.
The company spokeswoman said the Sunbury store would remain open as normal for ‘‘some months to come’’.
‘‘How we exit, which will either be through the sale process or a wind-up process, has yet to be decided,’’ she said.
‘‘If Woolworths is unable to sell all of the business and has to close any of the operations, it will seek to provide alternative employment opportunities within the Woolworths group to all current home improvement employees.’’
