The new $12 million supermarket will replace the previous
building that was destroyed in the September 4 earthquake. Resource
consent has been granted and the existing site has been
cleared.
Owner/operators Andrew and Jacqueline Palmer said that they were
more than halfway through a $6 million upgrade of the old
supermarket when the earthquake struck.
"The original plans were to have the revamped supermarket open
about now. Even though we will have to wait another year, we will
be getting a brand new building and equipment which we know our
customers will enjoy," they said.
The new supermarket will be approximately 2400 sq metres, which
is about 400 sq metres bigger than the original building and there
will be 83 carparks. It will sit on the same site as the previous
building, but the car park will be reconfigured to allow for a
better flow of traffic.
Amongst the features of the new supermarket are:
- An espresso coffee counter at the entrance to the
supermarket
- A larger wine and beer area with a correspondingly greater
choice
- A bigger, more customer friendly butchery
- A larger fish and seafood area including a cabinet for fresh
mussels
- A bigger deli and cheese stand
"In areas such as butchery, seafood and deli we are wanting to
return to the old fashioned style where customers can interact over
the counter.
"We want our customers to be able to talk with our trade
certified butchers, for example, so they can discuss the different
cuts of meat on display and ways that it should be cooked. The same
for the bakery, seafood and deli."
The checkout area has also been extended from nine lanes to 14,
including six self-scan lanes.
"Since the earthquake we have been heartened by the fantastic
support we have had from the community, both in terms of wishing us
well with the rebuild, and also the way other businesses rallied
around and took on our permanent staff.
"We also know from talking with the owners of Northwood and
Rangiora New World's that many of our customers are shopping with
them which is fantastic," they said.
Leighs Construction, which had the contract for the $6 million
redevelopment of New World Kaiapoi, also has the contract for the
new supermarket.
"We are delighted to be working with them again. They were just
amazing when we were carrying out the extensions before the
earthquake. They went out of their way to ensure that our customers
were not unduly inconvenienced at that time. They were just as
devastated as we were by the damage caused by the earthquake," they
said.