Mall near fully tenanted as Smiths City store opens

Smiths City Rotorua manager John Rinni in the new Central Mall store. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER 241014SP11

Rotorua Central Mall's latest 'big box' retailer has opened its doors, with no further developments planned for the site in the immediate future.

Smiths City has moved its Rotorua flagship store from Te Ngae Shopping centre to the mall. It opened for trading yesterday and will officially launch with a bonanza sale day on Thursday.

Smiths City Rotorua manager John Rinni said the new 2750sq/m floor space - four times bigger than the Te Ngae store floor area - was a "fantastic opportunity" for the company.

"Smiths City has always been about customer service based around competitive pricing and the Rotorua store will be our flagship store in the Bay of Plenty," he said.

"We were limited with space at Te Ngae so we can now present a bigger range of items.

"We had been wanting to expand our Rotorua retail base and the Central Mall site presented us with a great opportunity to significantly grow our presence with a bigger range of items.

"We will be more central which will be beneficial for our loyal customer base."

Mr Rinni said Central Mall was the focal point of retail in the city.

Five additional staff had been employed with the total number of staff rising to 13, he said.

Rotorua is the largest of Smiths City's six stores in the Bay of Plenty and Gisborne regions.

Smiths City general manager Martin Simcock said the Rotorua store was a "homeware destination" for Rotorua shoppers.

"It is in the top 10 of all our retail stores in the country and will be the model used for successive store developments elsewhere," he said.

Rotorua Central Mall spokesman Peter Faulkner said no further developments were planned on the site in the immediate future.

"With Smiths City opening we are essentially near 100 per cent fully tenanted," he said.

"Smiths City not only looks sharp as a building, the product mix and overall product offering fits well with that of the site having Smiths on site is a great addition to Rotorua Central."

Mr Faulkner said talks with interested parties to fill the space formerly occupied by Bond & Bond were ongoing but commercially sensitive.

An upgrade of the verandah in front of Van Dyks would start soon, he said.