Countdown hyperstore no Big W by stealth

Woolworths is insisting its new hypermarket in Manukau City will be a hybrid version of its Countdown supermarket - not the first of a Big W chain imported from Australia.

But with Woolworths buying 10 per cent of The Warehouse last week and talking about expansion of Big W, other retail industry players have been wondering about the significance of the new 9100sq m complex at 652 Great South Road, Manukau.

Marty Hamnett, managing director of Woolworths' New Zealand operation Progressive Enterprises, said Woolworths had made clear it saw opportunities in New Zealand for Big W, which in Australia operates in the same general goods arena as The Warehouse.

But he said the new hypermarket was not being developed as the first New Zealand Big W.

Hamnett said the new Countdown supermarket would include "substantially more" general goods in its offering than traditional Countdown.

Countdown at present offered around 5 to 10 per cent of its stock as general goods, but Hamnett declined to specify how much bigger the proportion of non-food products would be at the Manukau store.

Woolworths Australia bought Progressive Enterprises, including Countdown, Foodtown and Woolworths in May 2005 for $2.775 billion, giving the aggressive Australian retailer 44 per cent of the New Zealand supermarket sector.

Woolworths also owns the Dick Smiths electronics stores.

In Australia, Woolworths is a big player in general merchandise through Big W. In New Zealand, that sector is facing a shake-up, with Woolworths a key player in the battle for control of The Warehouse.