However, any move by residents to support a grocer, butcher or a local market, instead of the town's rebranded Four Square supermarket, could also lead to even more job losses.
The warning came from Sawyers Bay resident Robyn Broughton, one of the organisers behind the unsuccessful campaign to keep the Port Chalmers supermarket's New World brand.
Foodstuffs South Island retail operations general manager Alan Malcolmson confirmed on Wednesday the company had rejected a community counter-proposal aimed at encouraging locals to support the town's New World supermarket.
The brand would be withdrawn on April 19, and the supermarket reconfigured as a Four Square - with fewer staff, reduced range and higher prices all expected by campaigners - from April 20.
The change also left the future unclear for the supermarket's 22 full-time and 32 part-time staff, as Foodstuffs negotiated with the new owner-operator ''as to whether we can obtain employment for some of the New World Port Chalmers staff'', Mr Malcolmson said.
Mrs Broughton said the decision, and Foodstuffs' refusal to give the community's buy-local campaign a chance to work, was ''absolutely appalling'' and left her feeling ''quite angry''.
Foodstuffs appeared to have decided the supermarket's fate ''long ago'', and had not acted in good faith while considering a community counterproposal in recent days, she claimed.
''I feel that all of the rhetoric on Foodstuffs' website, about how it looks after communities and cares for communities, well, there's been no evidence of that.
''Talking to us, consulting with staff, and everything, in my opinion, was just going through the process.
''We got played,'' she said.
The loss of the New World brand would create an opportunity for more specialist stores to return to Port Chalmers, she believed.
But it could also threaten the long-term viability of the Four Square, putting even more jobs in jeopardy, she warned.
''The threat now hanging over the community's head is if they don't use the Four Square, they [Foodstuffs] will close it,'' Mrs Broughton said.
''It's very threatening tactics.''
Mr Malcolmson rejected any suggestion the outcome of talks with campaigners had been predetermined, saying the claim was ''incorrect''.
''Foodstuffs worked through the required process with all concerned parties to determine the best possible outcome for the owners, staff and the wider community.
''As soon as the business came to a feasible long-term decision, all interested parties were notified,'' he said.
He also remained ''confident'' the Four Square would ''service the Port Chalmers community very well'', but community support for it would dictate its long-term future.
''Like any business, the staffing requirements and the long-term viability are closely aligned with the needs and support of the community in which the business operates.
''We have every intention of this store being a permanent fixture in the community.''
Mr Malcolmson could not yet say how many staff would lose their jobs as a result of the change.
Mrs Broughton said the impact of higher prices and reduced range would be felt most by the elderly and those on fixed incomes who were unable to travel to the central city to shop.
