"This will hurt our town and there will no clothes to buy here, they don't realise what they are doing to the place," one protester said.

Holding banners and singing out 'Save our Target' the group says it will continue protests and use social media to power a campaign against the loss of jobs and the corporate retailer.

At Monday night's Wellington Business Chamber meeting Mayor Rod Buhr said Target had tried various corporate models at the store, but it simply wasn't making enough money.

Another member of the chamber said he was told by a Wesfarmers representative the store was turning over money but not enough to make a solid business.

Wellington mayor Rod Buhr admitted Target's tenure would be over on January 31.

"Corporate affairs say this decision is final, there will be no compromise," he said.

The meeting was told it really had nothing to do with Wellington, but that major changes in the structure of Wesfarmers across the nation and in the United States would see stores close everywhere.

At the meeting, the formation of a sub committee was discussed to pursue the ideas of a local store which would be financed by local people.

The committee will be headed up by Raine and Horne's sales manager Gary Francis who will look at the idea of community funded store.

The meeting also said the future of the town was positive as three new businesses were looking to start up including a new clothes store run by locals, a Thai Restaurant and also a coffee shop/Tapas bar.

Wellington's mayor said he and the council's general manager have spoken with several corporate entities about taking over the Target store.