Supermarket chain keeps lid on its closure plan

The future of Northland's seven Countdown stores remains uncertain.

The fate of Whangarei's Countdown supermarkets is uncertain after Australian parent firm Woolworths Ltd announced this week that six New Zealand stores are to be closed.

Countdown confirmed in a release that only one store - Countdown Rangiora Central, near Christchurch - is closing in the current financial year. Countdown Waihi was closed earlier this year for building safety reasons.

James Walker, Countdown general manager of corporate affairs, said he could not discuss the fate of Northland's seven stores, saying: "There are only four further stores likely to close after that, [Monday's release] but we are not announcing these as commercial discussions are ongoing."

However, he added that any closures are unlikely to happen this financial year. "Northland can be confident that Countdown will continue to serve those communities."

Mr Walker noted that the company has a total of 184 stores at present and is opening a further three stores this year.

"We anticipate our employment numbers to continue to increase over the next financial year. We recently announced the creation of 600 new jobs."

Woolworths has written off A$309 million from the value of its New Zealand clothing and homeware retailer EziBuy and wants to sell the business.