Work is underway to make the fire-damaged NW Victoria Park site safe for entry.
Foodstuffs North Island confirmed that the building remained too hazardous for anyone to enter at this stage.
Specialist crews, structural engineers, and safety experts have been on-site, managing a staged recovery process to stabilise the structure and allow the removal of fire debris, equipment, and stock to take place.
“Our priority is making the building safe,” said Chris Quin, CEO of Foodstuffs North Island.
“The damage is significant, and we can’t put anyone at risk by having people in the building before it's safe. That said, our teams are working with real urgency behind the scenes to get on with the job.”
Key safety work includes using cranes to remove substantial and heavy unstable materials from the roof, securing any compromised structural elements, and preparing the interior for the safe removal of stock and equipment.
Once that’s complete, specialist contractors will carry out a full clean-up and restoration of the site in line with environmental, sustainability and health standards.
A robust environmental plan has been implemented to ensure that food waste and damaged store equipment are managed safely and responsibly.
While the timing remained dependent on site and changing weather conditions, the co-operative expected safe entry and internal demolition to be completed within the next six weeks.
Structural engineers will assess which parts of the building can be retained and which will need to be demolished. Foodstuffs has confirmed it is committed to rebuilding a supermarket on the Victoria Park site.
From a team member's perspective, with the store remaining closed, all roles have been disestablished. Foodstuffs has been optimistic about finding opportunities for everyone who wants to stay with the co-op. They will continue working one-on-one with impacted team members over the coming weeks to support their next steps.
Foodstuffs has brought forward the opening date for its NW Point Chevalier store, located five km from Victoria Park, to ensure a full-service grocery store is available in the area as quickly as possible.
NW Point Chevalier was initially scheduled to open in September, but will now open on Tuesday, the 19th of August.
