Supermarket has expanded again

Press, 27 July 1976, Page 10

Supermarket has expanded again

The Supehvalue Supermarket in the Merivale shopping centre is continuing to expand. Last November. after months of work, the supermarket, expanded its floor area from about 5000 to 15,000 square feet. It has now added a further 2000 square feet, enabling it to offer an even larger range of foods and consumer products. One of the main areas to be expanded in the latest move is the imported gourmet foods section. The range of delicacies has been increased to meet an apparent demand for more exotic (albeit more expensive) tastes. Before the latest change, the supermarket already boasted a 42-foot aisle of shelving stocked almost ex-

clusively with imported foods. The shop also has a separate gourmet meats department. It is unique in that it has equipment which automatically weighs, wraps and prices cuts of meat selected by the customer. This does away with prepackaging. allowing a customer to pick exactly the type and amount of meat he or she wants. The management of the supermarket has plans for further growth. When th? original shop was built about 10 years ago. it had a staff of only 12 and parking space for only a small number of vehicles. It now has about 40 staff and more than an acre of extra parking sp.ee for about 200 vehicles.

The management hopes eventually to be able to include the supermarket tn a shopping mall or "village running from Papanui Road to Akela Street, virtual!) a whole block. The supermarket alteads controls seven other shops in the present shopping centre. They include a hard ware store, a delicatessen, a fancy goods store, a repair business, a florist and two hank agencies. When the supermarket management presses ahead with its plans for a mall, it hopes to be able to include a further 19 shops, making a total of 27 retailers. Another acre of land has already been earmarked tor development as a car park for customers when the mall is established.