Eleven years after its opening in Palmerston North, residents can now enjoy their grocery shop at the freshly refurbished, state-of-the-art Woolworths Kelvin Grove with the supermarket's official relaunch.
Woolworths New Zealand Director of Property Matt Grainger said that as part of the supermarket's transformation to Woolworths New Zealand, it invests significantly in upgrading stores around Aotearoa to provide a better experience for the team and customers.
"The upgrade of our Kelvin Grove store is an example of this investment," said Grainger.
Kelvin Grove Woolworths has undertaken a $4.6 million renovation to modernise the store and better meet the needs of its customers and team. It's not just been changing signage to Woolworths - it's about investing in improving its offering to its communities and providing the best supermarket experience."
Woolworths Kelvin Grove Store Manager Adam Georgiou was part of the opening 11 years ago and says the team is excited to unveil the store's transformation to the local community.
"It has been a lot of hard work from many people, but I think everyone who enters the store will agree it has been worth it. I'm proud of what we've got on offer with our complete renovation," said Georgiou.
A large part of the project was doubling the number of online pickup lockers on offer from 32 to 64 bays with a new canopy to increase customer convenience and weather protection.
"We've also made other enhancements, including new checkouts and additional self-service checkouts, upgrades to the wine and beer section, bakery, and fresh produce area- a wonderful shopping experience from start to finish."
Sustainability was a core focus of the renovation, with electronic shelf labelling to reduce paper use, a dedicated healthy foods aisle, doors on chilled dairy refrigeration cases, and a new mobility scooter to make the store more accessible for customers who need it.
Team and customer safety was another significant consideration in installing bollards, double-entry gates, and trolley locking.
Woolworths Kelvin Grove partners with Just Zilch and The Salvation Army to redirect food that cannot be sold but is still good enough to eat to help address hunger in the community. Woolworths New Zealand recently donated $25,000 to fund Just Zilch's operational capacity, allowing them to continue providing $85,000 worth of food to New Zealanders in need weekly. At the reopening, Woolworths Kelvin Grove donated a trolley full of groceries to The Salvation Army to help their work this holiday season.
Woolworths Kelvin Grove is located at 7 Fernlea Avenue and is open 7 am - 10 pm, seven days a week.
