Kmart on the hunt for new store locations around New Zealand, including Blenheim
Thursday, 12 January 2017
There is hope for Blenheim residents besotted with retail giant Kmart after years of rumour and innuendo.
In January 2015 the company ruled out building one of its discount department stores in the town, but bargain-hunters in Marlborough did not give up hope.
Two years on, their optimism seems to have been rewarded, with a Kmart spokeswoman saying the company was considering Blenheim as a potential location.
'We are always looking for new locations to bring people our everyday low prices, and that includes Blenheim,' she said.
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'At this time we have no firm plans to open a store there, however if this changes we'll advise the community with a formal announcement.'
Enthusiasm for Kmart runs deep in Marlborough, with frequent posts on social media from people who make the two-hour drive over to the nearest outlet, in Richmond, Nelson.
A Facebook page called 'Bring KMART to Blenheim' has more than 500 members who were encouraged to contact the company directly to voice their desire.
'Like many of us living here in Blenheim, the trek to Richmond, Nelson is just too far for us to shop at KMART,' the page description read.
'We WANT a KMART in Blenheim, we NEED a KMART.'
The company recently created an online store, however for the page administrator, nothing compared to the feeling of walking into a physical Kmart store.
'Online shopping might be better than nothing! Though not quite the same as stepping through those magical KMART doors,' the most recent post on the Facebook page said.
When asked if the company was investigating sites in Blenheim and what the secret was to Kmart's appeal, the spokeswoman said they had nothing more to add to their original statement.
It had long been speculated that if the company was to set up shop in the town, the most logical place would be the Westwood Business Park, on the outskirts of Blenheim near State Highway 6.
But property developer Phil Robinson, a director of Outer Limits, the group that owned the development, said he had not been approached by Kmart, saying the rumours had been circulating for years.
Kmart was definitely in expansion mode, with managing director Guy Russo telling Inside Retail NZ in 2015 the company wanted to build two or three stores a year in New Zealand for a total of 30 by 2020.
Social media expert Mark Shaw, the owner of Blenheim company Social Guy, said Kmart had built a strong brand around offering affordable, quality goods.
However, he said he found the enthusiasm for the company and the prospect of a new store in Marlborough surprising.
'The vigour and robust posting on social media astounds me, how can anyone be that interested in a shop?
'Why would you spend two hours in your car to go to Kmart? I mean Nelson's great, don't get me wrong, but I certainly wouldn't drive there to go to Kmart.'
Shaw said he was convinced the fact the company was not committing either way to opening a Blenheim store was a tactic to keep people interested and talking about it.
'There will be some PR person that says, 'just lead them on', 'don't give them a definitive no,' because everyone goes, 'oh, they haven't said no, maybe they'll still come.''