Police have arrested a man who allegedly held a woman hostage in the Four Square store in Paihia this morning.
Police had blocked off surrounding streets after the man allegedly held a machete to a cashier's throat and locked himself in the store.
The incident was resolved after about 45 minutes, with no one reported hurt.
A shopper heading into the Four Square on Williams Rd told the Herald that he was warned away by the manager, who had calmly helped herd up to a dozen other customers out of the store.
"I was about to walk in - it would appear a male had taken one of the cashiers hostage with a machete, and he apparently had it at her throat. I have no idea what his demands were, except one that he wanted to speak to a female police officer. I have no idea what his motivation was," Mike Baker said.
"Bob, the manager, was being very diligent in getting everyone out. Two police officers were on the scene pretty quickly, as the police station is about two doors down."
As Mr Baker spoke to the Herald, police were removing the cordons, to signify the incident had been resolved, after about 45 minutes.
Mr Baker, of Haruru Falls, believed the alleged offender was a local who had only recently moved into the area.
Manager of Boots Off Internet Cafe, four shops down from the Four Square, Alex Wehweck said himself and two customers were in his store when they noticed a large number of people on the street.
He saw Four Square owner Bob Patel ushering people away from the store before Police evacuated the area.
"It was a dumb arse obviously because you do not rob a supermarket 20m from the police station," Mr Wehweck said.
Paihia was very busy with tourists at this time of year, he said. "This is something that take awhile to get over".
He said he though the police did a great job handling the situation.
"To be perfectly honest they were quite calm".
The Whangarei-based Armed Offenders Squad were also called to the scene but were stood down enroute.
