Off Ya Tree closes stores across Australia

Beloved retail chain Off Ya Tree is closing stores across Australia.

The store is known for selling alternative fashion, body piercings and bongs.

Several of the chain’s stores in Adelaide, New South Wales and Western Australia have closed their doors.

The recent closures mark the complete closure of physical stores in three states, leaving just 14 stores open in the ACT, the Northern Territory, Tasmania and Queensland.

A source who worked for the Adelaide store said: “They haven’t told us anything and I honestly doubt they will, but the store was losing huge amounts of money because we were simply dead.”

‘The location meant there wasn’t a lot of foot traffic and there wasn’t a lot of marketing, so we weren’t reaching new customers and you can’t pay rent on nostalgia.

“Either way, the rest of the staff are now out of work, and most were casuals, so they won’t get anything.”

The retail chain has previously been criticized for stocking pipes, “storage cans” and plastic “bags” commonly used by drug dealers.

The brand has been around for over 40 years in Australia.

Off Ya Tree founder Jim Kouts originally started a music business, but pivoted toward bongs to attract a few more customers.

“The bongs were doing much better than the music side of things, and in the end I gave up music and just dedicated myself to the bong side of the business,” Kouts told the media.

At its peak, Off Ya Tree had around 30 stores across Australia.

Kouts is still identified as a major shareholder in Thendro Pty Ltd, the company that owns Off Ya Tree along with other brands.