Railway station New World closing
Thursday, 12 October 2023
The Wellington Railway Station will soon be down a supermarket after New World could not renew its lease in the building.
New World announced the store in the train station, popular with commuters and workers at nearby businesses, will close at the end of March 2024.
Despite the store’s best efforts, they were not able to renew their lease, the post on social media said.
“We’re really disappointed, especially for our team who do a fantastic job for our customers every day.
“Rest assured we’ll be doing the very best that we can to support the team into roles in other nearby stores.”
Among commuters, the feeling was a mixture of ambivalence and slight sadness.
The supermarket was a welcome convenience for several and it appeared like the reality of its impending closure had yet to sink in.
George Chadwick, who commutes to Ngaio by train, said the closure would mean extra planning for supermarket shops.
“It’s an inconvenience more than anything else.
“I think we'll just have to plan better because getting to the supermarket involves taking the car out which I try to avoid.”
About 4.30pm, as the first waves of commuters descended on Wellington station, the supermarket was busy.
People entered in hurried walks rushing to the relevant aisles to grab a few little things before making a dash for the self checkouts.
Lower Hutt commuter Peter Blucher said the closure was a shame and “very disappointing to hear.
“I’m not sure who’s driving this or what’s happened because it’s such a great site for them.”
Mike Watts, who commutes from the Kāpiti Coast, said he did not use the supermarket regularly, but was sad it was going.
“I’d be interested to hear what they replace it with. It’s quite helpful to have it there.”
A spokesperson for KiwiRail said it had been in negotiations with Foodstuffs for some time, but could not come to an agreement.
“It is a commercial space, but we offered fair discounts. Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach an agreement.”
KiwiRail is in talks with possible new leaseholders about future plans for the supermarket site, but could not confirm who they were.
A spokesperson for Woolworths NZ, formerly Countdown, said it had nothing specific to share, “but we’re always looking for opportunities to bring new supermarkets to our local communities”.