Hundreds of people crowded into the car park of the new Woolworths Flaxmere store early this morning as the new store opened its doors.
According to Matthew Grainger, Woolworths New Zealand Director of Property, this has been the largest crowd he can remember seeing at a store opening in the 12 years he has been with Woolworths.
Cultural groups from Flaxmere Primary School and Flaxmere College performed at the opening, and Flaxmere College Kapa Haka gave a thunderous performance of the haka Tika Tonu as Hastings District Mayor Wendy Schollum cut the ribbon to formally open the store.
“The haka from Flaxmere College was just spine-tingling, and to see that turnout for a store opening was amazing," said Sally Copland, Managing Director of Woolworths New Zealand.
"We’ve been blown away by the community interest in this store, and it was just an incredible privilege to be there today to experience that energy. We are investing in New Zealand, and we’re proud to serve this community and to bring more supermarket competition to this part of New Zealand."
The new NZD 25 million store brings a much-needed full-service supermarket to Flaxmere and also brings around 80 jobs, all of which have been filled from the Flaxmere and Hastings communities.
The 3,460m² full-service supermarket anchors TW Property’s redevelopment of the Flaxmere shopping precinct, bordered by Swansea Road, Caernarvon Drive, Pam O’Keefe Avenue and Te Ara Moeke.
The site includes 345m² of specialty retail with a local pharmacy soon to open. It features 171 customer car parks and a covered parking area for online customers to collect their shopping.
There are two 50 kW dual plug charging units installed, servicing four EV car parking spaces, and sustainability measures include doors on fridges to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, as well as bike parking.
Pre-cast concrete panels feature etched patterns inspired by the Flaxmere community. To celebrate the opening, GoBay bus services 6 and 7 to and from Flaxmere will be free from Thursday, THE 25th of June, till Sunday, the 28th of June.
