Harvey Norman Albury has drawn criticism for displaying a sign reading "No Coronavirus in our mattresses as ours are Australian made!".
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A photo was circulated on social media of the handwritten message on an A-frame, situated at the front entrance to the store.
When the Albury store was contacted by The Border Mail on Saturday, no staff member could be provided for comment.
The Provenance Beechworth owner Michael Ryan was among those on Twitter condemning the sign, tagging the chain in a photo and posting "Not Helping".
Harvey Norman responded to Mr Ryan's post, asking which store was involved, and replied at 12.45pm that the franchisee had removed the sign.
In a statement issued on Saturday afternoon, a spokesperson for Harvey Norman apologised for the sign.
"[The] Albury franchisee acted in isolation without any consultation or communication beyond their store," the spokesperson said.
"As soon as the company was made aware, the sign was immediately removed and the franchisee told this was unacceptable.
"Our apologies."
It comes after the beer brand Corona copped backlash for making light of the virus, and a Melbourne promotional company has recently apologised over a "Corona Chinese New Year Special", according to the ABC.
Australia has banned non-citizens flying to Australia from China, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rejected calls to compensate banned travellers, and the federal government has issued "do not travel" advice for China over virus fears.
China has more than 24,000 confirmed cases and 490 people have died.
