Roller doors remained closed at the Thirroul Plaza shop on Friday. Inside, the shelves and fridges had been cleared of produce and the cash registers remained open, revealing empty drawers.

A worker from a neighbouring shop said the fruit shop offered a cut-price produce sale on Wednesday, and there was limited activity at the site on Thursday.

Centre manager and landlord John Comelli said the owners had given him no notice they planned to vacate and had not contacted him since packing up.

Their lease had long ago ended, and they were paying rent on a week-by-week arrangement, Mr Comelli said.

Mr Comelli suggested the shop’s trade suffered after complaints of underpaid workers surfaced in the Mercury.

In September, 17-year-old worker Lauren Moon told the Mercury she was paid just $80 – $3.26 an hour – for working at the shop for 24.5 hours over a nine-day period.

Miss Moon claimed the owners told her the wages were for ‘‘training’’. She later filed a complaint with the Fair Work Ombudsman. 

Another worker complained she was paid just $50 for up to 26 hours of work during a ‘‘training week’’ while Louise Chapman, whose daughter worked at Fancy Fruits earlier this year, said she was concerned her daughter was being underpaid.

The name Fancy Fruits is held by Deanna Group Pty Ltd, a Padstow company. Mario Tamer is the company’s sole director and shareholder.

In the past, owners repeatedly declined to comment on the workers’ claims.

They could not be located on Friday.

A spokesman for the Fair Work Ombudsman said an investigation into Miss Moon’s claims was continuing, and it was not appropriate to comment.