| 137 T T Russell Fredric Four Square ownership ‘a privilege’ Mark and Raissa have owned Four Square Tuatapere for five years. COMMUNITY Tuatapere Four Square After many years working in an Invercargill suburban supermarket, Mark and Raissa Hewton “bit the bullet” and bought a Four Square store in Western Southland. Mark and Raissa have owned Four Square Tuatapere for five years and have loved being part of the Western Southland town of around 550 locals, along with doing what they can to make a difference in the community. “We always wanted to have our own store,” Mark says. After being approached by the store’s former owner and being told it was up for sale, Mark and Raissa were able to lever the purchase into place. Located 90 kilometres north-west of Invercargill and on the Southern Scenic Route, Tuatapere is a gateway to western coastal Southland, southwest Fiordland, the Hump Ridge Track, Waiau River, Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau and abundant fishing, hunting and boating options. For hungry hikers, hunters and travellers, Four Square Tuatapere provides a welcome hot and cold food and drink stop, offering something savoury or sweet, full ready-to-go meals, or even Bluff oysters in season. The store stocks in excess of 5000 products, including grocery, chilled, frozen and hardware, and runs a full supermarket-style meat and produce department, along with offering a range of 200 wines and 80 beers. “Currently, a big driver is focusing on our key customer promises of everyday essentials, fresh faves, local service and getting a range as tailored to our clientele as we can, while making sure we’re operating the store as efficiently as possible, but the biggest focus is really developing and trying to innovate fresh foods and food-to-go in meals.” The store employs a total of 17 part-time, full-time and casual staff, with three usually working in the kitchen for the food and meal preparation. It previously had a fish-and-chip takeaway, but closing this after purchasing the business has been a positive move, Mark says. “We took that away to focus on more of our core business, the range, and fresh foods, making sure that we’ve got the retail supermarket side of the store 100% every day. We actually increased our sales in the fresh foods area by putting more focus into that instead of takeaways, so it’s paid off.” This has been implemented in tandem with being proactive on social media, with a focus on food-to-go, as well as new and seasonal offerings and specials, while a Lotto agency also contributes to foot traffic. “All these little things give you a good repertoire of facets to your business; it just keeps people coming in.” One of the most significant aspects of the business is the highly recognisable Four Square brand and the equally iconic mascot, the thumbs-up Mr Four Square, who is indelibly etched into the Kiwi psyche. “To me it would probably be the most iconic brand of them all in the country. Pretty much everyone knows our logo and knows what it stands for and they’ve got most essentials and all the favourite products they like.” Mark believes the Four Square brand has had a resurgence in recent years and, like himself and Raissa, other store owners are passionate about their businesses and maintaining “next level” standards of service and presentation. “It’s actually a privilege to be a part of it. It’s all about the people really.” LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED 73 Main Street, Tuatapere 9620 03 226 6898 TUATAPERE Open 7 Days
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