A new Four Square has opened its doors, with the store in the brand's latest '4.0' format for the brand that has been around for 99 years.
Opening in Onehunga, Auckland, local business-woman Alex Gage Brown will own and operate the new Four Square.
The 4.0 stores being rolled out nationwide showcase the new Four Square brand identity, a contemporary layout designed for convenience and ease, premium local partnerships, self-service checkouts, and food-to-go options. All new Four Square stores offer the same core items, with specific products tailored to their community.
Four Square Onehunga will offer barista-made Flight coffee and baked goods from Daily Bread. Customers can also find classic Kiwi favourites such as meat pies, hot chicken & chips, and quick meal options for those with busy schedules.
Gage-Brown said the latest Four Square was perfect for Onehunga, and the range of groceries reflected what the store knows locals will want to shop for.
"Four Square is one of the country's longest-standing brands, but it's developing some of the coolest new stores for local communities," said Gage-Brown.
"We've been chatting to locals about what they'd like to see in store to make sure we've got what they need when we open, and we plan to keep talking to the community about what they want us to stock."
Foodstuffs North Island is a 100 percent New Zealand-owned co-operative of local grocery retailers. Each grocer owns and operates a New World, PAK'nSAVE or Four Square store in their community.
Four Square Onehunga is the seventh new site opening for the co-operative this year, following the opening of a new $46 million PAK'nSAVE for Warkworth in June.
Although this will be her first time owning a store, Gage-Brown is familiar with the Foodstuffs co-operative family and the business world. After an early career in start-ups, she became the FMCG company's general manager.
After that business sold in 2020, it created the perfect segway into the grocery trade. Gage-Brown spent a year in Four Square Russell before helping open Four Square St Heliers and completing the Four Square Owner Operator training programme.
Gage-Brown said the ownership pathway with Foodstuffs had always interested her.
"I had a few conversations with other local owner-operators before spending time in a New World and falling in love with the industry."
She continued that she was excited to open her first store in Onehunga, adding that it is a community she feels a strong connection to, having grown up in One Tree Hill and attending primary school.
Gage-Brown is joined in-store by her husband Will, who has recently stepped aside as a teacher at Saint Kentigern College (finished in the July school holidays), and their two kids, Cooper and Tilly, forming a family of grocers.
Head of Four Square for Foodstuffs North Island, David Gordon, said the newly built Four Square in Onehunga exemplifies how the co-operative and its members invest long-term in New Zealand communities.
Foodstuffs North Island invests around $100 million yearly into constructing and refurbishing property across our North Island stores, supply chain network, and support centres. Since the start of this financial year, the co-operative has invested significantly and has many new stores and refurbishments in the pipeline.
Gordon explained that the stores are individually owned and operated, meaning that while projects like this have significant investment from Foodstuffs North Island, the local owner-operator also invests in the store fitout.
The new Four Square will support the growing Onehunga community in a 300 sqm stand-alone building at 310 Onehunga Mall. Eke Panuku, Auckland Council's development arm, has designated the suburb a priority location, with nearly $70 million earmarked for upgrading infrastructure and public spaces.
Four Square Onehunga follows a raft of new Four Square store openings for Foodstuffs North Island recently, including Four Square Te Kowhai in May, Four Square Eden Terrace in January, Four Square Remuera in December 2022, and Four Square Wainui Road in November 2022, with more planned to open in 2023.
Gordon stated that Four Square Onehunga would give customers a local shopping experience and offer a range of products that's right up there with the best grocery stores in New Zealand and overseas.
"We're pleased to welcome Alex and her family as the newest members of our co-operative," said Gordon.
