Tokoroa customer’s shopping pays off

Spending $50 and swiping his Fly Buys card at New World Tokoroa has made a regular customer see red.

Red in the form of a brand new Holden LS Spark 1.4 litre car worth just under $18,000 that is.

Tokoroa local Tereu Teru won the car as part of the supermarket’s national Our Biggest Car Giveaway Ever promotion.

The promotion saw the supermarket franchise giveaway one of the zippy little cars at each of its 138 stores throughout the country and in Tokoroa Tereu was that lucky winner at the Bridge St store.

Tereu said he didn’t believe it when he first found out he had won.

‘‘I have never won anything like this before, this is my first big prize and when they rang me to say I had won I thought they were pulling my leg,’’ he said.

During the three week campaign customers were given the chance to be into win one of the over $2.1 million worth of cars everytime the spent $50 in store and swiped their Fly Buys or Airpoints cards.

Tereu said he has been a member of Fly Buys for around 15 years and was ‘‘rapt’’ to have won such a big prize because of it.

‘‘It’s actually worked belonging to Fly Buys,’’ he laughed.

He said the car has since been put into his wife Dot’s name.

‘‘I’ve driven it once and my wife is now using it and she is the owner now because I don’t actually do the shopping she does, it’s

‘‘I have never won anything like this. When they rang me to say I had won I thought they were pulling my leg.’’ Tereu Tereu

just that my name is on the Fly Buys card,’’ he said.

‘‘She was quite rapt when I brought it home.’’

While the car is arguably the shiniest in the neighbourhood, Tereu said none of his neighbours have said anything yet.

‘‘Our friends have been quite happy for us though,’’ he said.

He said he would like to thank New World Tokoroa and Fly Buys for the opportunity to win the car.

New World Tokoroa owner and operator Damon Jakeman said his supermarket received more than 20,000 Fly Buys swipes during the promotion and he was pleased the car was won by a local.

Jakeman said often competitions are won by people from out of town.

‘‘Anyone who came in and swiped their card could have won so there was the risk of it going to someone out of town so I am really happy on this occasion it has gone to someone local,’’ he said.