Glue Store Shuts Final Melbourne Emporium Outlet, Ending Chain
Glue is gone: the last Glue Store in Melbourne's Emporium shut on Sunday, and the brand has now closed both its physical shops and online store. Customers who had been buying Adidas, Nike and Levi's through the chain are being redirected away from Glue’s own site.
16 outlets were left in the chain after Accent Group said in February it would shut the remaining Glue stores if no buyers stepped forward. Half the nationwide network had already been closed in mid-2024, leaving loyal shoppers with fewer stores before the final shutdown arrived.
Melbourne Emporium Ends Glue
1998 was the year Glue Store first opened, and the Melbourne Emporium location was the last bricks-and-mortar shop to fall. The closure ends a retail run that had stretched across malls and online baskets, but the site now sends shoppers to stand-alone Australian pages for Accent Group brands including Dr Martens, Vans, Hoka, Lacoste and Skechers.
898 physical and online stores sat inside Accent Group’s wider portfolio as of mid-February, a scale that shows Glue was one piece of a much larger network. The company also said in mid-May that next year’s projected pre-tax earnings would rise by $16.2 million from closing Glue Store, Ozsale, Herschel and Superga, a sign that the wind-down was not just about a single brand but about reshaping the retailer’s mix.
Accent Group’s Portfolio Shift
The pressure on Glue came while Accent Group was opening Sports Direct shops across the country and shutting Glue and Vans stores. That split matters for shoppers: one part of the portfolio is expanding while another has been stripped out entirely, leaving no Glue channel to return to for stock, promotions or an owned website.
For customers, the practical change is immediate. Glue no longer operates as a store chain or an e-commerce destination, and the brand’s former shelves have been replaced by links to other Accent Group labels. The shutdown leaves a clean break rather than a partial trim, and the old Glue channel is no longer part of the Australian retail map.
