Shoppers queued up from early morning to be the first to shop at Kmart Invercargill

Friday, 22 November 2019

Shoppers flocked to the opening, with some sleeping in the car park the night before. (Video first published November 2019)

Invercargill resident April Koch was up before 4am on Friday to be the first shopper at the city's new Kmart store.

However, Koch wasn't the only one trying to get an early start.

Friends Meg Fletcher and Sadie Price slept outside the store to be among the first in line when Kmart Invercargill opened its doors for the first time at 8am on Friday.

The two arrived at 10pm on Thursday and spent the night in their car.

They joined the queue when Koch turned up.

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Once the store was open, Koch made a beeline for the self-checkout terminal, grabbing just a greeting card along the way, to fulfil her goal and earn one of 250 goodie bags.

'The very first purchase of the day, I got it,' she said.

Shoppers were invited into the store a little earlier to hear opening speeches from store manager Forrest Worthen, Kmart country manager Jason Picard, and property manager Ben Smith, from Australia.

Representatives from The Salvation Army spoke about how they work with Kmart to deliver gifts to families in need and students from James Hargest College performed a haka.

Kmart opened it's new store on Clyde St, Invercargill, on Friday with a large crowd waiting for the doors to open. April Koch, of Invercargill, wearing blue, arrived at 4am to wait for the opening of Kmart in Invercargill and then went on to make the first purchase.

April Koch, of Invercargill, arrived at 4am to wait for the opening of Kmart in Invercargill and then went on to make the first purchase.

Hundreds of shoppers were treated to thousands of cupcakes and goodie bags containing slippers, placemats and a bag of lollies.

The new Kmart store situated on Clyde St is nearly as big as a rugby field.

Eight other stores, including Muffin Break, St Pierre's Sushi, K Chicken, Shake Shed & Co, Ten Ten Thai street food, Stirling Sports and M M Barber Express, will open over the next few months.