Hundreds queue for new Petone Kmart

Thursday, 1 June 2017

A thousand shoppers waited at the door, 255 car parks were taken, 5 portaloos were on hand. Let the shopping begin.

The first to queue outside Kmart's new Petone store arrived in the small hours: Nature Walker and Lavish Kaumoana - along with their whanau - arrived at the Hutt Rd mega store not long after midnight: 'It is awesome to have it over here. Kmart is the bomb,' Kaumoana said.

The crowd counted down to 8am before surging in with Tammy Peckston at the front, as staff clapped loudly.

Shoppers were clapped in by Kmart staff.

'I wanted to be first, that was my only reason for getting here early,' said the Petone mother of two, who joined the queue just before 6am.

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Dontay Palmer, 4. of Wellington waiting patiently with his mum in the queue.

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Kim Williams claimed the first goodie bag.

Hannah Barnett and Emma-Jane Cortegast had earlier slept in a nearby house bus till McDonalds opened at 5am, then staked their spot outside the Kmart doors, waiting for them to open.

They had never gone to such an extreme for a shop opening before, Cortegast said. 'Nothing else was worth it.'

Close to 1000 people were waiting for the doors to open just before 8am.

The honour of getting the first goodie bag went to Kim Williams from Wainuiomata.

She had not been near the front of the queue but was one of the first to make a purchase and get a bag of treats.

Some of the other early arrivals concentrated on the free cup cakes.

Kmart Petone is getting ready to open its doors to a crowd of 6500.

Also among the crowd was Kaylor Fox and her nine-month-old daughter, Keria.

A self-confessed 'diehard Kmart fan', Fox was looking forward to getting her goodie bag.

'I love Kmart, it is cool. Kmart is so cheap and I want stuff for my house. We are moving to Trentham.'

She was with her friend Ella Jonas.

'I am a big Kmart fan, it is so cheap and it has awesome stuff.'

Hutt City Mayor Ray Wallace was on hand to greet shoppers and was delighted to welcome Kmart to the city.

'This is just fantastic for Lower Hutt and is really a vote of confidence in the city.'

It would become a regional attraction but with a number of other large retailers opening recently in Petone, the council planned to review parking.'

Kmart country manager Jason Picard said the crowds confirmed that there was a strong demand for Kmart in Lower Hutt.