$30m Pak’nSave opening soon

Michelle and Anthony King are opening Pak’nSave Queenstown on November 3. Photo: Philip Chandler.
Michelle and Anthony King are opening Pak’nSave Queenstown on November 3. Photo: Philip Chandler.
A $30 million Queenstown supermarket  opens in less than two weeks.

Pak’nSave Queenstown, opening beside Mitre 10 Mega on the Frankton Flats, dwarfs the resort’s other full-service supermarkets.

It has a ground floor of 5765sqm, 27 checkouts (16 full-service and 11 self-service) and parking for 348 cars, along with unmanned fuel pumps.

Owner-operators Michelle and Anthony King, who formerly had New World Wakatipu, believe its design would be attractive to customers — but pricing would be the store’s biggest selling point.

It is the fourth new-format Pak’nSave in the South Island.

Mr King said there might be some products which would be cheaper elsewhere when they were on special but he was confident a shopper’s total basket would always beat competitors for price.

The couple were confident they would draw customers from out of town.

The Kings said they had not sacrificed range for pricing.

"The Pak’nSave group has what’s called a core range and then we have what we think this area needs on top of that," Mr King  said.

"So we’ve really put a big focus on international foods, gluten-free goods and natural/organic, and obviously, in the wine area, the Central Otago wines are a must."

The Kings would employ about 150 staff and as of last week had hired about 125.

Michelle and Anthony owned New World Wakatipu for the past three years and worked there for more than 10 years.

Michelle’s parents Mary and John Thompson were its original owners.

Michelle said: "A big part of [leaving New World] was the challenge and the opportunity to start a new store, build up a team and the appeal of bringing something that is new to Queenstown."

The couple said they would enjoy helping out on the floor or at the checkout.In the lead-up to November 3, Michelle’s parents, who opened Frankton’s original Four Square in 1982, have also been lending a hand. 

- Philip Chandler

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