Waiheke ‘aisles’ to receive $35m Countdown makeover

Waiheke ‘aisles’ to receive $35m Countdown makeover

Countdown’s most sustainable supermarket to open in early 2016

18 March, 2015: Countdown is pleased to confirm it will be bringing a new supermarket to Waiheke Island next year, to replace the current store on Ostend Road.

Countdown’s General Manager for Property, Adrian Walker, says the company is very pleased to finally confirm that work will be starting on its Belgium Street site this month, with the new store expected to open in the first quarter of 2016.

“This is significant news for our Waiheke customers. It’s no secret that we’ve been looking to bring a more modern supermarket offer to the community for many years, so we’re very excited to now be able to confirm we’ll be starting work in just a few weeks.

“We’ve been very open about the challenges we’ve had that are unique to large construction on the Island – the size and nature of our site, the store features required, and the cost to bring over materials and labour support from Auckland.

“We needed to find a solution that would stack up both for what the growing community needs and also financially for us to make this investment. We know this has been highly anticipated by the community so we appreciate their patience while we have been working solidly on this in the background,” says Adrian.

The store has been carefully designed to fit in with the Island environment and will be Countdown’s most sustainable supermarket, operating at almost full self-sufficiency. Rainwater will be utilised through a collection on the roof and the store will also recycle grey water through an onsite waste water treatment system, which will be redistributed in a native wetland at the back of the site.

The new store is also expected to create 60 jobs, adding to the 73 team at the current store.

“As one of the largest businesses and employers on the Island, we’re really proud to be able to make this investment which will support local job creation and provide a first class offer to the Waiheke community as well as the large number of visitors to the Island year round,” says Adrian.

The new store will be 150% larger than the current store at 3490m2, and will include 5-6 specialty retail shops along the roadside, and a partially underground car park with 179 car parks.

“We know there will be a lot of interest in the project as soon as it starts so we’re also working on setting up a website and live webcam to document our progress. We’ll provide the details of this website in the next few weeks,” says Adrian.

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