Cafe puts Blenheim plans on hold
A nationwide cafe chain has pulled its plans to open a franchise in Blenheim’s new retail hub.
Australian cafe chain Jamaica Blue hoped to open a franchise in the former Countdown building in Redwoodtown in March next year but pulled out due to feasibility issues.
The decision was made by the cafe chain’s owner, Foodco New Zealand.
Foodco NZ executive director Garry Croft said the area was already well catered for cafes.
‘‘It’s one that we’re pulling offline because we’re not convinced that there’s room for us there at the moment.
‘‘As you know cafe space seems to be quite a prevalent opportunity for people but I recently went down myself to have a really good look around it [Redwoodtown] and we’re not sure at this point so it will be coming offline,’’ Croft said.
Foodco NZ was not convinced Jamaica Blue would have brought a product that was not already in Redwoodtown and the whole of Blenheim.
‘‘I think Blenheim is well catered for retail space in general, we need to be 100 per cent convinced that we could bring a point of difference and be relevant, so that’s always the equation we need to consider,’’ Croft said.
Jamaica Blue’s website had earlier advertised that a new cafe opportunity was available and aimed to open in March 2018, but they removed the listing after being contacted.
Croft said Foodco’s decision to pull the cafe was ‘‘for the moment’’ and the company would always look for new opportunities in Blenheim and the rest of New Zealand.
‘‘We’re a national franchise brand, we’re always looking at opportunities that are presented to us from the top to the bottom of the country and we evaluate them when they come up,’’ Croft said.
Earlier this month, shops neighbouring the Redwoodtown development said they were in the dark over what might happen with the retail hub.
Neighbouring Haven Cafe manager Shawnee Griffiths said the developers had been ‘‘tight-lipped’’ about what was going in, although she had heard a gym was on the cards.
The building is owned by Redwoodtown Development Ltd. Director Phil Robinson declined to comment.
The building, on the corner of Weld St and Cleghorn St, has been empty since Countdown moved to bigger premises across the car park in April 2016.
Redwoodtown’s other big development, a new Nelson Petroleum Distributors, or NPD, garage on the corner of Redwood St and Alabama Rd, opened before Christmas.