Hundreds of shoppers packed inside the Petone Kmart on its opening day in 2017. Video / Georgina Campbell
Resource consent has been lodged with Hutt City Council to expand Petone’s Kmart.
The expansion is proposed to “enhance the shopper experience”, rather than accommodate more customers.
The application is currently on hold while more information is sought on potential traffic impacts.
Resource consent has been lodged with Hutt City Council to expand Petone’s Kmart store to “improve the shopping experience” for customers and make better use of carpark space.
The proposed addition would add 860sq m to the department store’s floor area – bringing its total area to 6171sq m.
Architectural drawings by construction management company Aintree show an existing wall of the store would be removed to make way for additional floor area.
The application says the expansion is not about attracting more customers to the store and wouldn’t “noticeably” increase the number of items on offer to shoppers. The expansion is instead planned to “enhance the shopper experience and improve the internal store operations”.
However, the consent notes there is expected to be a “small increase in the number of customers overall”.
The resource consent application is currently deemed “on hold” while Hutt City Council awaits further information about potential traffic impacts.
“When [Hutt City] Council has received all of the further information requested it will continue to process the application,” the council said in a statement.
When the store first opened in 2017, a new set of traffic lights was installed at the intersection of Hutt Rd and Petone Ave to manage the increase in traffic.
The proposed extension to Kmart Petone lays out where the additional floor space is planned to be.
Developers Penrith Holdings Limited applied for resource consent to expand the store on June 4.
When the $2350 application fee was paid on June 13, the council started processing the consent.
The application, signed off by Urban Edge Planning on behalf of Penrith Holdings, states the extension aims to give shoppers a better experience.
“The proposed extension to the existing building seeks to improve the operation floor area of the retail business and provide a better level of service for its existing customers,” the document reads.
Kmart Petone is described as currently being “congested” with “poor circulation around stock and across [the] store”.
“The expansion will enable the retail space to be opened out to provide more room around products and associated displays. The increase in floor area is not focused on growing the number of customers coming to the store but is more about improving the shopping experience for its customers.”
Thirty-two car parking spaces would be removed to facilitate the building extension, leaving 193 carparks. Access to the car park will remain the same, as will the store’s opening hours of 8am to midnight.
“Importantly, the current activity provides more car parking than the expected demand. The oversupply of parking in the previous [resource consent] application was a consequence of site configuration,” the current proposal reads.
“The area to the south of the building where the proposed expansion is planned is not needed and is poorly used.”
The original application lodged in 2015 to build the store noted demand for the retail development was based on other similar “large format” retail areas. It was expected Kmart would have 150 parking spaces, though the tenants requested 200, which was approved.
Hutt City Council started processing a resource consent to expand the Petone Kmart in June. Photo / Google Maps
Economic impacts were taken into account when the original resource consent was signed off by the council.
The new consent being considered said it was agreed the “large format retail store would not undermine the economic viability of other commercial centres in Lower Hutt and the wider Wellington Region. This remains the case for the discrete additions proposed to the Kmart store within this application”.
The impact of an expansion on nearby Jackson St, a popular shopping destination, is also being considered in the application.
“It is noted that the retail offering of Kmart is unlikely to compete directly with smaller specialty stores occupying different segments of the retail industry,” the resource consent said, pointing out smaller retail sites attract a “different clientele”.
More than 1000 people lined up outside the store for its 2017 grand opening, with the store blessed by then-Lower Hutt Mayor Ray Wallace.
Chris Bishop, a National list MP at the time, said the 120 workers were “really buzzing” about the store.
Azaria Howell is a Wellington-based multimedia reporter with an eye across the region. She joined NZME in 2022 and has a keen interest in city council decisions, public service agency reform and transport.
