Foodstuffs North Island’s general manager of retail and property, Lindsay Rowles. Photo / Michael Craig
Foodstuffs North Island’s general manager of retail and property, Lindsay Rowles. Photo / Michael Craig
“Game changer” is how Foodstuffs North Island’s property boss today described the company’s victory over rival Woolworths after it swooped on one of its properties.
Foodstuffs North Island’s general manager of retail and property, Lindsay Rowles, said today that it had bought the site of Woolworths Te Atatūfrom the landlord who leased it to that business.
Woolworths is due to close next month, then the area won’t have a supermarket for more than a year.
Rowles said his business would deliver “a quantum leap in west Auckland” and he called the purchase a “grocery game-changer on the way for Te Atatū”.
New Zealand’s largest supermarket owner would build a quarter more floor area and re-open next winter.
“Foodstuffs North Island, the co-operative whose local grocers own and operate the North Island’s New World, Pak’nSave and Four Square stores, has bought land and buildings at 583 Te Atatū Rd,” Rowles said.
“The site is currently leased by Australian-based supermarket rival Woolworths, which reportedly plans to close the store next month,” he said.
The Herald’s Tom Raynel reported on Friday how more than 50 staff from the store were facing uncertain futures after the supermarket revealed it was closing.
Woolworths New Zealand director of stores Jason Stockill said the supermarket’s last day of trading would be April 24.
“In 2023 our landlord put our Woolworths Te Atatū site up for sale. We made a bid as part of the process but weren’t successful.
“Unfortunately, our new landlord has not renewed our lease which ends in June 2025, and we need to close Woolworths Te Atatū before then,” Stockill said.
The supermarket caters to about 20,000 and was one of the remaining Countdown-branded stores in New Zealand.
“We have valued being a part of this special community, and are working closely with our team to ensure they can continue their careers with Woolworths.
Rowles said his company’s purchase would allow Foodstuffs North Island to modernise and refurbish the existing buildings, expanding the store footprint by 25% to 3000sq m and offer a wider range of products.
That would result in a significantly enhanced shopping experience for the local community.
“The existing building is 25 years old and requires significant work. We’re talking a full structural upgrade, re-roofing and expanding. It’s going to result in a virtually brand-new store for the community. It’s a huge undertaking but our team is well-prepared and excited to deliver a modern, full-service supermarket that will provide a quantum leap in grocery retail - offering more choice, greater convenience, and a vastly enhanced shopping experience for Te Atatū residents,” Rowles said.
“We’ve been wanting to bring more competition to the people of west Auckland for a long time. Currently, the only locally owned supermarket option is Pak’nSave Lincoln Road, with the nearest New World stores in Hobsonville and New Lynn which are both a 20-minute drive away,” Rowles said.
As well as the west Auckland closure, Woolworths has proposed a major restructure of its New Zealand store operating model, leaving workers worried their hours and pay could be cut.
The proposal could potentially see some supervisors move on to the shop floor stocking shelves and helping customers find products.
A Woolworths spokesperson said the changes were still proposals, but the business’ operating model had not been updated in nearly 20 years.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
