First look inside the under-construction $73m New World Pt Chevalier: Foodstuffs North Island’s biggest new store
The basement shopper parking spaces are marked in white, the floor-to-ceiling north-facing glazing is fitted at the entrance way, and flights of stairs are installed between all four levels.
The Herald went on a first-look tour inside the $73 million under-construction New World Pt Chevalier supermarket.
The visit showed building contractor GN Construction well advanced on the store of almost a third of a hectare at 1132 Great North Rd opposite McDonald’s.
And when is it opening?
“September,” says Foodstuffs North Island [FSNI] retail and property general manager Lindsay Rowles, who led the tour with development manager Andrew Bell.
New World Pt Chevalier is the biggest investment for FSNI after the frenetic February opening of the $100m Pak’nSave Highland Park, East Auckland.
On February 25, more than 5700 customers poured into the Highland Park Pak’nSave for its grand opening, with the supermarket forced to bring in extra trolleys.
Rowles said of the Pt Chevalier build: “It’s our largest store since the Highland Park opening.”
The building has four levels:
Those separate offices make this supermarket unusual because big new supermarkets don’t usually have such features.
Rowles said this feature made better use of the site.
But he also acknowledged that FSNI got resource consent for the offices as part of a deal with landowner Pt Chevalier Memorial RSA Inc earlier this decade.
The RSA was to occupy those offices.
But it decided against moving into the new building on its original Pt Chev site, which it sold to FSNI for around $10m in a controversial deal.
A covered walkway has been built for shoppers getting to the new store from the street. Some surrounding buildings are heavily tagged and vacant, including the neighbouring Magnum Motors site.
A separate 147sq m stand-alone retail outlet has been built at the front of New World Pt Chevalier, yet to be leased.
Rowles anticipates around 12,000 shoppers a week at the new store, each spending under $200 on each visit.
Pt Chevalier has a dedicated Woolworths, but the nearest FSNI supermarkets are New World Victoria Park in the city, the smaller New World Mt Albert and the large Pak’nSave Mt Albert.
A Woolworths spokesperson, when asked about New World Pt Chevalier, said: “We’ve been a part of the Pt Chevalier community for over 37 years, and have seen the area go through many evolutions during that time. Our Pt Chevalier store is 1300sq m with 80 car parks and we underwent a significant renovation in late 2020, adding a number of features including a new in-store bakery, food-to-go section and more checkouts.
“We’re always listening to local customer feedback about what they’d like to see in-store, and making tweaks where we can.”
Rowles said the new store was designed as a local shopper amenity, with higher frequency visits anticipated.
“Kiwis are shopping 2.5 times a week or more. We are hopeful this will be an anchor for the community.”
People are coping with the economic downturn by buying grocery items as needed.
He named the in-house Pam’s brand as popular in harder times.
New World Ōtaki owner-operator Matt Mullins will operate New World Pt Chevalier. His Kāpiti Coast store is a smaller store but successful, Rowles said.
Mullins is paying $14m to buy New World Pt Chevalier fixtures and fittings, with no goodwill payment due because it hasn’t traded previously.
Locals said they looked forward to having more choice and visiting the new store.
New World Pt Chevalier
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.