Eastside supermarket set to open doors

The owner of Rotorua's new FreshChoice supermarket says the availability of tradies when building work started helped enable its early opening.

"We had a very good run. We're probably lucky that we started six months ago because tradies are a lot busier now," Wayne Parry said.

Builders R & B Construction had done a brilliant job, he said.

The supermarket is due to open tomorrow, and Mr Parry said there would be some opening day bargains.

"We've got our usual flyer that's gone out with some specials."

The resource consent for the site includes permission for a fast food restaurant on site, but Mr Parry said he was still looking for a tenant.

"I haven't really been pushing that."

A large number of submissions were made in support of the proposed supermarket during the resource consent process.

The 54 submissions in favour of the development mainly cited the lack of a supermarket in the area and potential for job creation.

There were nine submissions against the project, largely due to potential impact on traffic and existing businesses.

Mr Parry said he believed there had been a need for a supermarket in the eastern suburbs for some time.

The Fresh Choice brand is owned by Progressive Enterprises, which also owns Countdown. There are three Countdowns in Rotorua.