Supermarkets wage turf war

The partially-built Pak'N Save supermarket on Wairau Rd. Picture / Dean Purcell

Supermarket chain Progressive Enterprises is closing in on its $2.9 billion rival Foodstuffs on the North Shore with plans for a new supermarket, as a court hearing looms to sort out a dispute between the rivals in the area.

Progressive parent General Distributors of Australia has just got Overseas Investment Commission clearance to buy a large slice of leasehold land near Foodstuff's Pak'N Save at Albany.

The deal comes as co-operative Foodstuffs (Auckland) awaits a Court of Appeal date to challenge Progressive's victory of June in the High Court which saw construction of a partly built Pak'N Save on Wairau Rd stalled.

Foodstuffs' Pak'N Save was to open in the spring, but the site has been secured and shut down after Progressive's court win, granted on the basis that Foodstuffs' application for the new supermarket should have been publicly notified.

North at Albany, Progressive is planning a large new supermarket alongside Westfield's planned shopping centre and near Foodstuff's established supermarket.

Unlisted developer Symphony Group is selling 3.3 hectares in Albany to Progressive for $24.2 million which will see Progressive lease the land for a 1ha supermarket development on Don McKinnon Dr.

The commission approved the deal involving Progressive's parent company, which operates the Foodtown, Countdown and Woolworth chains here.

Murray Jordan, general manager property strategy for Foodstuffs (Auckland) questioned Progressive's Albany land purchase, particularly the price paid.

"We could not pay that amount and still provide New Zealand's lowest-priced food items," Jordan said yesterday.

He was delighted with the mood of a North Shore meeting on Monday organised by the Glenfield Residents and Ratepayers Association to discuss community support for the Pak'N Save at Wairau Rd.

Foodstuffs managing director Tony Carter and Progressive Enterprises chief executive Richard Umbers, who spoke at the meeting, said the audience - which clearly backed Foodstuff's proposals for the Pak'N Save - was "a select audience" which had already formed that view. Some people had backed Progressive once they had his arguments.

"There were insightful questions from the audience members about the Resource Management Act and the District Plan. The central issue is there is a plan in place and because the impact of the Pak'N Save is more than minor, the application should be heard in a public forum."

Umbers could not comment about the price being paid for the Albany land or what brand of supermarket would be built there.