Jayesh (Jay) and Nilam Uka at the Te Mata Four Square in Havelock North on Thursday, their first day open again after the store was destroyed by fire. Photo / Paul Taylor
Jayesh (Jay) and Nilam Uka at the Te Mata Four Square in Havelock North on Thursday, their first day open again after the store was destroyed by fire. Photo / Paul Taylor
Te Mata Four Square revealed a new dark charcoal interior look upon reopening on Thursday, but you would never know a fire had torn through the store earlier in the year.
An electrical fire caused by a junction box overheating in a roof cavity in the store on January 4 spread and gutted an estimated 30 per cent of the interior and all of the stock inside.
Owners Jayesh, known as Jay, and Nilam Uka were forced to close shop for nearly 12 months while they decided how they wanted to rebuild.
“It has been a really stressful year; lots of things to work through,” Jay said.
He said the delay of the reopening date was mainly down to the time it took to make decisions about how the store would be rebuilt, but he and Nilam never considered letting the store go after running it for nearly 10 years.
“We were in a position where we had to decide how far we want to go with the store, and we made the decision pretty early on that [we were] going to give it a full fit-out and bring it up to the new Foodstuffs Four Square standard,” he said.
“There were no real delays because of Covid or anything like that.”
“Online, we’ve got a good following, even when we weren’t trading. I couldn’t ask for anything more in terms of community support. I am really overwhelmed by it, to be honest,” Jay said.
“Continuing on, we’d like to support the community any way we can as well. We always like to support the schools and any community projects - that sort of thing.”
He said he and Nilam were lucky enough to have savings to carry their family through the period of not trading.
The interior of Te Mata Four Square, Havelock North, two months after a fire gutted about 30 per cent of the store. Photo / Te Mata Four Square
The store is now larger and fitted out with two self-service checkouts, a walk-in chiller for liquor and a larger range of groceries, including more produce, meat and seafood.
“I kind of want to make this the hub of the town, and if you want to make something the hub of the town, then it should be a place where you can have a conversation without being interrupted,” Jay said.
He said they saw a steady flow of customers when the long-awaited reopening commenced on Thursday with free coffee and a sausage sizzle.
“I think everyone who has come in has made a really good comment about how it looks and how it is arranged.”
The new exterior of the Te Mata Four Square. The store is larger and has two self-service checkouts, a walk-in chiller and a larger stock. Photo / Paul Taylor
David Gordon, head of Four Square at Foodstuffs North Island, said it was fantastic to have Four Square Te Mata back up and running.
“Four Square has been serving local communities for over 98 years. The newly-refurbished Te Mata store is a fantastic example of how we’re transforming and evolving our Four Square stores to ensure we continue to bring a world-class grocery experience to communities across the North Island.”
Twelve new staff have already been hired for the store, and Foodstuffs said the store will employ 14 employees altogether.
