Gisborne getting second KFC, to be built in Kaiti

Gisborne's KFC on Gladstone Rd will soon be joined by a second outlet less than 3km away in Kaiti. Photo / James Pocock

A second KFC is to be opened in Gisborne, less than 3km down the road from the current outlet.

KFC has confirmed the store will be located at the Kaiti Hub shopping centre on Wainui Rd.

Three job listings for KFC Kaiti were put up on job-searching website Seek nine days ago - for a restaurant manager, assistant restaurant manager and team member.

A KFC spokesperson told the Gisborne Herald KFC was “excited” to come to Kaiti and said the new store was set to open in the middle of this year.

The owner of Kaiti Hub, Fortitude Property, has been approached for comment.

Residents on social media spotted a post from the fast food company advertising a role at its “KFC Kaiti store” last week.

The reaction from commentors was mixed - from skepticism to speculation and excitement.

“Hope it opens soon ... I’m getting hungry,” one wrote.

“We don’t even have a big enough population to open another KFC,” another commenter wrote.

Given the district has a population of just over 50,000, the Gisborne Herald asked KFC why another KFC was being opened in Gisborne.

This was the response.

“Construction will begin shortly, and we’re looking forward to hiring a local team, meeting the wider community, and giving fans on the east side of Gisborne a closer, more convenient spot to get their KFC fix,” the spokesperson said.

A Kaiti resident, who declined to be named, said she only ate KFC “now and then”, but thought the new store would be good for the community.

“For the children, they like it, and for the adults, a lot of them don’t always have the time [to cook]; they might be working,” she said.

She speculated the store may go where the Ngāti Porou Hauora Puhi Kaiti Clinic used to be in Kaiti Hub.

That spot has been fenced off for work, and plumbing trucks were seen outside the building site on Thursday.

In 2014, a video titled “KFC Gisborne Line” was a minor viral hit with nearly 50,000 views and caught international attention.

It showed a line of cars for the KFC Gisborne drive-through, extending around the corner and several blocks down the road on the first day the store reopened after closing for a couple of months.

During its closure, people got their fix by asking friends or family travelling away to get them KFC from another city or town, such as Whakātane, while returning home.