Signing up of about 85 workers beings with senior team
Recruiting for some of the 85 jobs at Rotorua's new Countdown supermarket will start next week.
Countdown Fairy Springs store manager Steve Green said the company was currently recruiting its senior team, with the process to find the rest of the staff beginning early next week.
Mr Green said preparation for the new supermarket was going well and it was expected to open its doors in early December.
The store on the corner of Fairy Springs Rd and Maisey Place was expected to employ about 85 people.
Mr Green said as part of the recruitment process Countdown was working closely with the local Work and Income office to find suitable applicants.
Local developer Ray Cook of R & B Consultants developed the site, which covers an area of 3500sq m and will contain 194 carparks.
Mr Green said work was in the final stages of fit-out and the store was starting to take shape.
"It has a new-generation format and features energy-efficient fixtures and fittings, as well as eight self-service checkouts."
It will also have a bakery, service delicatessen and seafood department and offer the "Click and Collect" service under which people are able to order groceries online and pick them up at the supermarket.
Meanwhile, new traffic lights in Fairy Springs Rd, outside the Countdown site, have been operational since Wednesday.
NZ Transport Agency spokeswoman Natalie Dixon said the signals were put in to "efficiently and safely manage the increased traffic that will use the Maisey Place intersection once the Countdown is open".
They were not expected to have any negative impact on traffic flow. "No other signals are being removed from Fairy Springs Rd. All the signals are being connected to a system that can co-ordinate them together for optimal traffic flow."
The cost of the traffic lights has been met by R & B Consultants Ltd.