Pak’nSave Highland Park is set to open on Tuesday morning. Video / Cameron Pitney
More than 5700 customers poured into the new $100 million Highland Park Pak’nSave yesterday for its grand opening, with the supermarket forced to bring in extra trolleys.
Foodstuffs North Island, which owns brands New World, Pak’nSave and Four Square, said the Highland Park supermarket opened with 383 trolleys – more than usual for a store its size – but added another 44 yesterday. Now it’s on the hunt for even more.
Owner-operator Wade Brown said the opening day drew incredible crowds, with 5708 customers visiting the store.
“We had people lined up with trolleys before the ribbon was even cut.
“We’re thrilled by the response and are doing everything we can to make sure everyone has a trolley when they arrive.”
The Highland Park Pak’nSave opened next door to rival chain Woolworths.
Brown said the store’s popularity saw some customers resorting to using trolleys from the Woolworths supermarket next door, but urged shoppers to avoid using competitors' trolleys.
“We appreciate the enthusiasm, but if everyone could stick to our Pak’nSave trolleys, that would be fantastic,” he said.
Customers experienced hour-long queues on the opening day of Highland Park Pak'nSave.
The new supermarket featured bargains such as 89c for a bottle of coconut water, 49c for a head of bok choy and 99c for avocados and capsicums.
“They’re going to continue all week while stock lasts,” Brown said of the store’s low prices.
“And then next week we’ll have a new set of specials. There’s also plenty of product to go around with our fantastic team working hard to keep the shelves full.”
The Herald reported earlier this month on how the new Highland Park Pak’nSave was “at risk” of not opening on time after a dispute between Foodstuffs and Watercare.
However, last week peace broke out, allowing the new supermarket to open on schedule.
Watercare was seeking that Foodstuffs sign an agreement before opening that it would install a 250,000-litre water holding tank for fire-fighting water supplies, otherwise, it would put too much strain on the system.
But Lindsay Rowles, Foodstuffs North Island’s general manager of retail and property, disputed the need for the tank.
“If the building catches on fire, Watercare is saying we’ll cause a problem in the network due to the amount of water we’d need. We’re saying that’s not true. Our daily use is below that and even if there was a fire, our use is less than the capacity available,” Rowles said previously.
Both parties are reportedly still negotiating over the tank, which would cost around $1 million and be sunk under the loading dock at the now-completed store. However, Watercare granted a water connection enabling the Highland Park Pak’nSave to open on time.
