The husband and wife team taking the reins at New World Waipukurau

Waipukurau New World owners Aaron and Claire Blair with daughters (from left) Maddie, Tessa and Molly.

The supermarket game is not new to Aaron and Claire Blair, who have recently taken over New World Waipukurau.

The couple both come from grocery sector backgrounds and officially took over from former owners Gerard and Tina Kennedy on July 14 with warm welcomes from shoppers.

The supermarket is one of two that support the Central Hawke’s Bay community in Waipukurau, the other being Woolworths. There is a Four Square in Waipawa.

Claire, who started her career as a Cadbury merchandiser in the Waikato, said a visit to the store in December last year had the family of five hooked.

“As soon as I walked in, it felt right. We both thought this was somewhere we could easily live and raise our family.”

The New World is the third Foodstuffs store to be owned by the couple. They previously had the Four Square at Ohope Beach for five years and New World Aokautere in Palmerston North for three years.

Claire said their eight years of experience together as a husband-and-wife team put them in a great position to support the community.

“I think we are going to love it here.”

Claire said they planned to continue improving the store, to make it affordable for customers.

She said their philosophy was to create a great environment for staff and customers to enjoy.

“As owners, we are looking at today, but we are looking into the future quite a lot as well.”

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.