THE store was officially opened by Janet Brown and Joy Levein, two grocery assistants, who cut the ribbon after starting 28 years at New World Taumarunui. PHOTO SUPPLIED
NEW World Taumarunui opened for business on Tuesday following 15 months of trading at a pop-up supermarket in the local athletics club.
The country’s newest supermarket represents a $14 million investment in the area and offers a 40% larger store bringing the latest design, technology and a wider range to the local community.
The rebuild has been led by owner-operator of New World Taumarunui, Aiyad Khan, with support from Foodstuffs North Island and the whole New World Taumarunui team.
Foodstuffs North Island is a co-operative of 350 grocers, who own and operate their local New World, Pak’n Save and Four Square stores in communities around the North Island.
“When my family and I came to Taumarunui in 2020, we knew a new store was in the pipeline,” Aiyad said.
“It was only due to the support of the community that we were able to move into the athletics club and keep trading (while the new premises was built). Arriving in town during a global pandemic was a great way to connect with the locals. We had teachers from Turaki Primary School across the road helping us stack shelves in the athletics club so we could open for business and the whole community reached out. I’m extremely grateful for the support we received.”
Having traded from the athletics club for so long, Foodstuffs was determined to thank the community by upgrading the building.
“Our builders and electricians will be at the athletics club for the next couple of weeks as part of a really significant makeover,” Aiyad said.
“The clubrooms are in for a full refurb and modernisation, with all the other areas getting a well-deserved facelift.
“We’ve got LED lighting in, and security cameras set up and will also replace the hot water tanks and give the outside a good general tidy-up to make it better than ever before. It’s our way of saying thank you to the people of Taumarunui.”
Regarding the new store, Aiyad said it had been re-designed to meet the needs of the local community.
“The focus is on freshness and convenience. It’s been a long time coming for the people of Taumarunui and offers a full range of everyday essentials as well as plenty of grab and go products and more premium items.
“We’ve got a much bigger range of fresh foods and have made some significant upgrades to the bakery, deli, butchery, seafood counter and frozen department.
We’ve also got lots of special products that locals are going to love, like sushi made in store, fried bread, hāngī pork and pig heads.”
The new store has a specially commissioned 5 metre by 2.5m tōtara carving called ‘Nau Mai Ki Te Ao Hou’ which depicts the Māori food gods. Translated, it means; “Welcome to New World” and was made by local carvers from Ngāti Hāua: Rewhiri Tarapata, Brett Te Kene, Kopeke Te Wiki and Mitchell Crown. The tōtara was sourced locally before being shaped using traditional methods over the space of three months. Situated in the kūwaha or store entrance, Nau Mai Ki Te Ao Hou will welcome future generations of shoppers to New World Taumarunui.
Aiyad started his Foodstuffs career in 1999 when he joined New World Victoria Park as a part-time checkout operator. Over nine years, he covered a range of roles spanning grocery, storeroom, buying and pricing. In 2008 Aiyad joined Foodstuffs wholesale business Gilmours, where he spent the next eight years before joining the team at Pak’n Save Sylvia Park as fresh foods manager and then as operations manager. In 2018, Aiyad became store manager at Pak’n Save Kaitaia before stints at Island Bay New World and Pak’n Save Silverdale.
After growing up in a small Fijian town, Taumarunui feels like home for Aiyad and his family.
“Rural Taumarunui and the lifestyle that comes with it is just fantastic. Living around farms and animals is something I had growing up and my family and I love it here.
“While this is my first store, it feels like my third having operated from the old store, the temporary store and now we’re finally here.”
New World Taumarunui was officially opened by Janet Brown and Joy Levein, two grocery assistants who cut the ribbon after starting at New World Taumarunui 28 years ago.
