Australian Geographic Retail – the retail arm of the Australian Geographic society – is reportedly set to close its bricks and mortar stores this coming year due to increased competition and hard losses.

Fairfax Media is this morning reporting the chain will close its doors by the end of this year unless a new owner can be found.

The stores are owned by Myer Family Company – a different company to retail business Myer – which acquired the chain in 2007.

The stores were reportedly offered to a number of buyers, according to the Australian Financial Review, but no one took the offer.

A spokesperson for the Australian Geographic Retail said: “AGR operates across some of the most competitive retail categories in toys, gadgets, books and licensed products. It is well known that these categories have experienced difficult trading conditions with significant competition from both online and discount channels.”

However, until the stores close it will be “business as usual”.

B&T is awaiting further comment from Australian Geographic Retial.

The magazine arm of the business is separate and will not be affected.

The news comes nearly a year after the ABC announced it was closing its stores, moving to an online environment.

“ABC Retail will review its lease arrangements with landlords and develop a revised retail model with a focus on ABC Shop Online and ABC branded outlets in other retailers,” said the ABC in a statement at the time.

Robert Patterson, director of ABC Commercial, also added: “The ABC Shops have been an important part of the ABC’s relationship with its audiences for the past 35 years and this decision has not been taken lightly. However, this strategy will create a more cost effective, nimble and flexible approach to servicing customers.

“This direction is also in keeping with the shift of ABC audiences to accessing content across an array of digital platforms, while maintaining an appropriate level of physical retail distribution.”