New World Te Atatū: Around 90 roles coming for new supermarket opening in August
If you live out west and are job-hunting, a $50 million retail business will shortly seek about 90 staff for an operation opening in four months during August.
That is in addition to the 240 new jobs being created at Kmart Westgate, opening this winter.
Nick Hanson, Foodstuffs’ property head, said jobs would be advertised for the new supermarket once a new owner/operator was appointed to the newly refurbished and expanded New World Te Atatū.
That appointment could happen in the next fortnight, Hanson said.
Shortly after that, the new boss will recruit staff for the store.
Supermarkets seek staff for checkouts, bakery, butchery, delicatessen, online, seafood, frozen foods, storeroom, forklift driving, fruit and vegetables, management and other areas.
But already, Hanson said staff in other parts of the Foodstuffs’ network were considering applying for Te Atatū because it was where they lived.
Foodstuffs North Island owns Pak’nSave, New World, Four Square, Gilmours and Liquorland businesses.
It employs more than 20,000 people in about 350 stores.
Some New World Te Atatū jobs will need no previous experience.
Hanson said staff for a new supermarket were typically recruited from that suburb and the surrounding areas.
Full-time permanent staff may work two shifts if opening times are 7am-10pm.
However, Hanson said that was not yet decided and would be up to the owner/operator.
In early February, Stats NZ said New Zealand’s unemployment rate had risen to 5.4% in the December 2025 quarter, up from 5.3% in the previous quarter.
It now sits at its highest level since 2015, when it hit 5.7%. This country has 165,000 people unemployed.
Another new store out west is also opening soon.
New Zealand’s biggest new Kmart will employ about 240 staff when it opens in three months, with all those jobs created specifically for that operation, a chief at the Australian-headquartered retailer says.
Ben Smith, Kmart Group property general manager, said the under-construction Kmart Westgate would be a big employer.
Hanson said refitting and expanding the ex-Woolworths Te Atatū building was much harder than expected from a construction point of view.
The 1962 building was not as strong as anticipated and 100 tonnes of steel were required to upgrade it.
“It was in a worse state than we expected,” said Hanson, leading a tour of the store, due to open in August.
“We had to spend more money and have a different methodology when things got pulled away and exposed. We had to reassess and come up with alternative strategies.”
Not only did more metal have to go into the old walls but it needed to be in locations somewhat different to what was originally planned, Hanson said.
Seismic strengthening, working with the older existing structure, and its age created the unexpected challenges.
Foodstuffs spent $50m buying the supermarket and neighbouring bare land.
It has expanded the store by 30% and wants to sell the neighbouring site.
New click-and-collect zones, loading docks, a mezzanine floor, a diesel generator, staff areas and an extensive plant room have been developed.
GN Construction began work on June 6 and is now on track for completion in the original timeframe, despite all the extra work.
Michael Lowden, GN Construction project manager, said 58 people were working on the site last Friday.
Most of those were subcontractors, many from the local area and nearby.
GN Construction also built New World Pt Chevalier, opened last year.
Woolworth’s closing was not good for Te Atatū.
About 15,000 residents there were left since last April without a nearby supermarket due to the big programme.
The area is being reshaped by new townhouses as building densities intensify.
Woolworths Te Atatū shut on April 24 last year.
But now cabinets for chilled and frozen goods are being placed on the floors, ceilings are being fitted out and the space is looking far more like a supermarket than when the Herald visited what was essentially a construction site on December 1.
New look
Ten self-scan checkouts and six staff-operated checkouts will be operating at the store which will also have 136 dedicated car parks.
A major feature of the expanded offering is a 6m high area for goods trucks to enter and exit.
Vehicles will come in off Gunner Dr and exit on to Te Atatū Rd.
The site is nearly 1ha, at 9146sq m.
Hanson said Foodstuffs was negotiating to sell 6929sq m of land which was surplus to requirements.
The new store will have a new look, a edgier interior than older New Worlds.
That means many shelves will be wood grain, lighting is more spot or LED, and roof services are exposed and much of the interior colour scheme is black.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 26 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
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