New Four Square coming to Mount Maunganui

An artist's impression of the new Four Square in Mount Maunganui.

A new Four Square store will be opening its doors in Mount Maunganui next month and the local resident association says it will add value to the downtown area.

In a statement, Foodstuffs said the store would be owned and operated by Sasa Overend and would be located at the corner of Maunganui Rd and Banks Ave.

Overend said in the statement that the location was “perfect”.

“And to be opening just in time for summer is going to be great.”

Mount Maunganui Ratepayers, Residents and Retailers Association president Michael O’Neill said the new store would add value to the downtown area.

“The only other supermarket is the New World further down the road,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill said the new Four Square would also benefit travellers who like to have cheaper food options available to them via supermarkets rather than eating out.

Mount Mainstreet’s Claudia West said the business association was “excited” about the new Four Square.

“We don’t have any sort of larger supermarket down the main street,” West told the Bay of Plenty Times.

“Local residents have to drive to the supermarket so this will be a great filler to service, particularly our tourists and our locals.”

An artist's impression of the new Four Square in Mount Maunganui.

Mount Backpackers staff member Trevor, who asked that his last name not be used, said he thought guests would be using the new Four Square.

“Definitely,” Trevor said.

The news comes after New Zealand’s first rebranded Woolworths supermarket opened in August.

Foodstuff’s statement announcing the new store said the Four Square would have the benefit of “a contemporary store layout”, local partnerships and self-service checkouts.

Foodstuffs North Island said it was working with local iwi Ngāi Te Rangi and other local business leaders to open the new store.

Ngāi Te Rangi-owned company NST Investments LP chairman Bevan Taikato said the project had taken “considerable planning and resource” for the iwi.

“We are proud alongside Sasa to deliver to Mounties something they have long awaited in this brand new Four Square Store,” Taikato’s statement said.

Four Square Mount Maunganui will be open for business on October 19 and will operate from 7am to 8pm, seven days a week.

Maryana Garcia is a regional reporter writing for the Rotorua Daily Post and the Bay of Plenty Times. She covers local issues, health and crime.