New Rotorua supermarket to open next week

The new FreshChoice supermarket on Te Ngae Rd will open on June 22. Photo/Ben Fraser

Rotorua's newest supermarket is on track to open next week - a month earlier than planned.

FreshChoice will open on Te Ngae Rd, near the intersection with Wharenui Rd, next Thursday.

A total of 36 people have been employed from 400 applicants, all of them locals.

The supermarket is part of a cluster of new businesses in the area, which also includes the Owhata Medical Centre, which is moving from the Owhata Shopping Centre and opening on August 1.

There will also be a new takeaway food premises opening next to the medical centre but the business behind that development has told the Rotorua Daily Post it cannot confirm it is coming until given final sign-off at the end of this month.

Developer Wayne Parry is behind the FreshChoice supermarket development and will own the business with his wife, Michelle. It will be the 27th FreshChoice in New Zealand.

The Te Ngae Rd supermarket will be open from 7am to 9pm seven days a week.

Mr Parry said they were committed to employing locals because he was counting on the local community to support the business.

"In fact most of the staff live within walking distance of the supermarket."

He said initially the opening date was set for July 24 and he was thrilled to open a month earlier.

"It's been a six-month build. The builders have done a brilliant job and got us open a month earlier because they got a good run on things.

"We will be having a low-key opening because we don't want to overwhelm the staff on the first day."

Mr Parry said he also had another site next to the supermarket that had been consented as a fast-food business, but he would concentrate on leasing that once the supermarket opened.