Supermarket opens after marathon legal battle

The Pak 'n Save in Wairau Rd has created 250 more jobs, says its owner. Photo / Supplied

Thousands came, and thousands of others had to be turned away, as Pak 'n Save finally opened its doors in North Shore City after nearly 20 years of trying.

"The crowd was just incredible, and I had to give up looking for a carpark after waiting for about half an hour," said shopper Bee Keng Koh.

Another, Nancy Cohan, said she had to queue for 20 minutes at the checkout, but the low prices "definitely made it worth it".

Foodstuffs bought the Wairau Rd land in 1989 and has been waiting to open a store ever since. It received resource consent in October 2004 and the building was completed in 2005

But rival chain Progressive Enterprises challenged Foodstuffs' resource consent, and the result was a prolonged court battle.

As well as Pak 'n Save, Foodstuffs runs the New World and Four Square chains.

Foodstuffs says the new supermarket has created 250 jobs.