6 March 2012 -
Foodstuffs unveils plans to build a brand new PAK’nSAVE in the eastern suburbs

Foodstuffs South Island Ltd has revealed it has plans to build a new PAK’nSAVE store with a fuel site on the property next to the existing store. PAK’nSAVE Wainoni is the largest private employer in the eastern suburbs, with 285 staff currently working in the store. Steve Anderson, CEO Foodstuffs South Island says, “With such a large number of people affected, we feel it is critical for the store to keep trading. This will provide surety to our staff, and a much needed service to the local community”

Anderson continues, “We are committed to keeping PAK’nSAVE Wainoni trading while we build the replacement store. Engineers have confirmed the structural integrity of the existing building is safe, but the costs required to fix the superficial damage means that it is more cost effective to build a new store from scratch.”

Lianne Dalziel, Member of Parliament for Christchurch East says she is pleased the private sector is starting to re-invest in the eastern suburbs. “It has been a long, hard road for many Christchurch residents, many of whom have lost both their homes and jobs in the aftermath of the earthquakes. Foodstuffs’ commitment to keeping its staff employed while creating a new store for the eastern suburbs is commendable.”

“Ensuring the largest supermarket in the area remains operational is critical for the surrounding communities. I would like to appeal to local councils and government bodies to continue to work with businesses like Foodstuffs to ensure such re-builds can be completed as soon as possible. It is vital to the regeneration of our communities that the private sector is able to invest in the region, and expediting the processes needs to be a top priority,” concludes Dalziel.

According to Anderson, building new stores next to existing stores is common practice, as this allows the original store to continue trading and providing customers with their everyday supermarket services. In this case, Foodstuffs feels it is even more important to keep the store operational as the impact of shutting the store would be devastating for staff and customers who are already under significant stress due to the events of recent months.

The resource consent process is currently underway with the council, and Foodstuffs hopes to begin building the new supermarket and fuel site in the next few months. “Feedback from staff and customers is that they really want us to keep the store open, and that they are looking forward to a new and improved PAK’nSAVE in the eastern suburbs. In the meantime they are happy to make do with the current store – which is in need of refurbishment but is structurally sound,” says Anderson.

Additional information about PAK’nSAVE Wainoni

• The redevelopment of PAK’nSAVE Wainoni is a significant investment from Foodstuffs – the cost will be in the region of $23-25 million

• The proposed plan of building the new store alongside the original ensures job stability for the 285 staff

• The new store will be approximately 6,000m2 and will include a fuel site – this is a similar size to the existing store

• There will be more car parks but until the site has been reconfigured to fit the new store we can’t say exactly how many

• The resource consent process is currently underway with the council, and we hope to begin building the new supermarket and fuel site in the next few months

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