Upmarket food retailer Nosh is working on its first store on Auckland's North Shore, due to open in two months and bringing the chain up to seven outlets in the upper North Island.

Director Clinton Beuvink said the 900sq m building on the corner of Constellation Drive and Apollo Drive at Rosedale would open in October.

The project was an extensive building refurbishment with the big existing structure stripped to floors and framing so a custom-designed shop could cater for Nosh's needs, Beuvink said.

Nosh already has stores in Glen Innes, Greenlane, Mt Eden, Ponsonby, Matakana and Hamilton, and Beuvink said the new store would employ 30 to 40 staff.

It will also be the first joint venture Nosh business, owned with retailers Jo and Simon Jamieson, who will also operate it. In the past 20 years, the couple have owned a cafe and catering business, video stores and a franchise.

Beuvink said more growth was expected to come from other joint ownership opportunities which he said represented an efficient use of working capital.

In the next three to five years, outlets in Taupo, Tauranga, Pakuranga and other suburban Auckland areas are envisaged, Beuvink said, as the joint ownership model expands.

Two months ago, rival high-end gourmet grocer Farro Fresh opened Trader Jacks, a new brand, at an existing Hamilton site and is planning six new stores.