Countdown opening more stores
Countdown supermarkets plans to open another nine to 12 stores over the next three years.
Last month the company announced it was closing six lower-performing stores as part of a trans-tasman cutback by its parent company Woolworths.
But Woolworths’ annual results, out yesterday, revealed that openings had outweighed closures last year in New Zealand.
Ten new or replacement Countdowns were opened and one was closed at Waihi out of building safety concerns.
The supermarkets that are to close are still not known, except for one of its two Rangiora supermarkets in October.
Woolworths announced a fullyear group loss of A$1.2 billion (NZ$1.24 billion) for the year to June 26, as it exited its Masters home improvement business.
It also confirmed that it would put Ezibuy, the New Zealandfounded catalogue company it bought three years ago, up for sale.
But on this side of the Tasman, Countdown said it had no plans to stop expanding, outlining plans for three or four new supermarkets a year for the next three years, as well as more refurbishments.
The chain has previously said that new supermarkets in Ashburton south, Aotea and Beachlands are next off the drawing board.
Woolworth’s figures showed its New Zealand subsidiary, Progressive Enterprises, made NZ$6.1B in sales for the year, an increase of 3.8 per cent, including the Supervalue and Freshchoice franchises.
However, its operating profit lost some traction, down 3.7 per cent to NZ$313.9M. The figure was flat if adjusted for staff performance bonuses.
Countdown also plans to create 600 new jobs and extended hours for 200 workers to upgrade its customer service.
Countdowns opened in the last year:
Christchurch Airport, Hobsonville, Queenstown, Northwest (West Auckland), Fairy Springs (Rotorua), Claudelands (Hamilton), Cable Car Lane (Wellington), and Ponsonby.
Replacements: Mangere East and Redwoodtown, Blenheim.