The conversion of Target stores into Kmarts has begun.

Last week, Kmart Australia & New Zealand unveiled a new store format called K Hub on the site of three former Target Country stores in Victoria.

The move follows Wesfarmers’ announcement in May that it would turn between 10 and 40 underperforming Target stores into Kmarts.

Kmart Australia & New Zealand retail director John Gualtieri described the first three K Hubs as having undergone a “light touch makeover for now”, but said a bigger transformation is in the works.

“Our priority is getting these stores up and running, so that people still have easy access to the products they need. But keep an eye out; we have big plans to evolve the look and feel of these store over time,” Gualtieri said in a statement provided to Inside Retail.

The K Hub offering is a “curated collection” that is better suited for the smaller-format stores. It includes Kmart’s most popular products across kids, home and clothing.

In addition, customers will be able to shop the entire range of Kmart and Target products online and collect their orders from K Hub stores at no additional cost, or have them delivered to their door.

“We’ll be extending this service later in the year to include our friends at Catch… so think of K Hub as your one-stop-shop for all your favourite Kmart, Target and Catch products,” Gualtieri said.

The first three K Hubs are located in Cobram, Echuca and Seymour in Victoria. The full list of K Hub store openings is below.

Gualtieri said all previous Target team members have been offered the opportunity to move across to Kmart, with in-depth training and support available.

K Hub store listing