Mitre 10 MEGA Prestons, at 390 Prestons Road, will have its soft opening on Wednesday, January 28, with the grand opening scheduled to take place over Waitangi weekend.
The new store is owned and operated by father and son Tim and Miles Andrews, who own the Ferrymead Mitre 10 MEGA.
Their first Christchurch Mitre 10 store opened on Moorhouse Avenue in 1993. Subsequently, over the 2000s, the ‘MEGA’ concept was devised and developed, and Tim launched the Ferrymead Mitre 10 MEGA in 2007.
Tim’s son Miles started his career at Mitre 10 MEGA Ferrymead in 2016, working in each department of the store for a couple of years.
He was then appointed assistant trade manager, a role he continued until 2021, when he was appointed as Mitre 10 MEGA Ferrymead’s Member Principal .
It currently employs around 170 Cantabrians.
Given the success of the Ferrymead store on the east side of the city, Mitre 10 New Zealand identified an opportunity to establish a store to serve the north-eastern sector, explains Miles.
“Tim and I had always hoped to open a second store, and fortunately, the Mitre 10 Board granted us the rights to find a suitable site and build a store.
That remarkable 12-month feat has been achieved, with 80 new employees welcoming their first customers yesterday.
“Having our team in place and ready to go is the most rewarding and satisfying part of the process for me,” says Miles, who is also Member Principal at Mitre 10 MEGA Prestons.
“A lot of our Ferrymead team have been promoted, with 20 of them coming over to Prestons and taking on new responsibilities.”
One of these is the new store’s manager, Jo Eddy.
“Jo has been with Mitre 10 for 15 years,” says Miles.
“She had an HR role and retail management roles, and has now stepped up to store manager. She has done the hard yards.”
It’s a young team at Mitre 10 MEGA Prestons – the average age is 30, with the store giving young people many opportunities to have a rewarding career in the retail field.
The Mitre 10 MEGA Prestons store covers 10,000sqm – 5000 retail, 2000 garden centre and 3000 drive-through and landscape supplies. It also includes the Columbus Café and a children’s play area featuring a magnificent tree house.
“We believe this will be a real drawcard, with parents able to enjoy coffee or lunch at the Columbus Café while they keep an eye on the kids,” says Miles.
Customers will find the same extensive selection of products as the Ferrymead store offers, with 50,000 SKUs, (stock-keeping units) available. Knowing exactly where to find what they want is made really easy with digital shelf labelling and signage, Miles says.
“Customers can just take out their phone and go to our website where the ‘Ticket Flashes’ will indicate which aisle and shelf the product they want is on.
“We are also looking forward to servicing local tradies. That’s a major part of our Ferrymead business and we are hoping to develop it here too.”
For the grand opening over Waitangi weekend, there will be plenty of fun and excitement at 390 Prestons Rd. This will include a free sausage sizzle, a huge range of specials and giveaways, and radio station More FM broadcasting from the site, and the team looks forward to meeting many new customers throughout the event, Miles says.
Community involvement will also be an important part of the new store’s operation, he says.
“We’re excited to give back to our new community. At Ferrymead, we donate to local schools and clubs, and we will be offering similar support here.”
There are some 200 car parks available at the store, which occupies the back section of the Prestons Rd site. It is expected that new businesses, such as professional services and hospitality, will take up space at the front of the site over the next year or two, Miles says.
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