28 | Patriarch’s dream fulfilled The newly opened New World Te Kauwhata - a catalyst for growth in the region. DEVELOPMENT New World Te Kauwhata The Patel family of Te Kauwhata has just fulfilled a long-term vision of family patriarch Jesal, with the opening of a New World supermarket for the town. “I grew up in the previous Four Square store,” says Jesal’s son Prashant. “I worked there from primary school until college then returned to take on the owner-operator role. We’d seen what that store could do and it was always dad’s dream to give the town a brand new store, a supermarket.” Sadly Jesal passed away in 2018 so was unable to see the fruition of his goal but it has been a healing experience for the family to see it through to completion. The family ran the Four Square in the town for nearly 30 years. When the small store, originally built in the 1930s, needed refurbishing to bring it up to modern standards they decided to take the plunge and build a whole new store. It was the first Covid-19, which saw demand for their services nearly triple, which gave them an inkling into the future demands of the town and at that point they decided to build a supermarket instead. Both Four Square and New World are Foodstuffs brands and Prashant says Foodstuffs was incredibly supportive of their decision to significantly expand. “With Te Kauwhata growing, along with nearby Huntly and Pokeno, we needed a modern large scale offer for the community,” explains Prashant. “It’s been a huge learning curve to understand what it takes to build something like this.” Covid-19 restrictions constantly threw spanners in the works during the construction, Karen Phelps EFFICIENT AND COST EFFECTIVE | NATIONWIDE INSTALLERS Large Retail, Commercial, Industrial PHONE (09) 415 6960 | www.tempest.co.nz Leading NZ designer, manufacturer and installer of commercial and industrial air-con systems. GA Pickford Roofing LTD supplies and installs a range of roofing solutions, using the best in roofing materials and technologies throughout Hamilton and the Waikato region. 0800 766 3349 | info@gaproofing.co.nz | www.gaproofing.co.nz 24C Allright Place, Mt Wellington, Auckland 1060 T: 09 276 6242 E: auckland@hcf.co.nz www.hcf.co.nz Hills Commercial Floors. Proud to have our customers walk all over us. particularly as the subcontractors hired by main contractor Watson & Hughes originated from Auckland and got caught up in Auckland lockdown border closures. Despite the challenges the store was completed in November and New Word Te Kauwhata opened on March !, 2022. The new supermarket is a huge development for the town as people no longer need to travel to nearby towns to do a large shop, says Prashant. It will offer a deli, butcher, fishmonger and bakery but have the flexibility to pivot between these offerings and pre-pack depending on what Covid-19 throws up in the years to come to ensure customers always feel safe shopping. There will also be a click and collect service. Prashant believes it will be a further catalyst for growth for a region already booming with development including the large Lakeside subdivision. “New World Te Kauwhata is located on the main road so we will help to rejuvenate Te Kauwhata. Hopefully a brand new New World will signal to other brands Te Kauwhata is a great town to invest in.” The Patels have decided to take on a landlord role with the new venture and open the opportunity up for someone else to step into an owner-operator role. “We’d run the store in the town for so long and it was time for a change, particularly with Dad passing away and Mum wanting to retire,” says Prashant. “But with the future growth taking place in this town and the amount of building we are proud to be a part of taking Te Kauwhata forward into the future.”
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