Gore Farmlands store to get upgrade
The Farmlands store in Gore is set to undergo a major upgrade estimated to cost up to $3.5 million.
Demolition work is expected to start soon at the Lyne Street site and in its place will be a larger more customer-friendly store.
Farmlands chief executive Peter Reidie said the new store, which was being built on the existing site, would be 25 to 35 per cent larger than the previous Lyne Street store.
‘’We’ve simply outgrown the Gore building.
‘’We’ll be addressing the size constraints and improving traffic management around the store to better meet the needs of our shareholders,’’ Reidie said.
Reidie said the old Lyne Street store no longer met the requirements of the cooperative’s large shareholder base in Southland.
The yard would be extended to improve traffic flow as this had been an ongoing problem around the site, he said.
‘’It’s a very challenging site from a layout perspective.’’
The Gore Farmlands store, which was built in 1983, was one of the co-operative’s top five performing stores for turnover in the country.
‘’We have a very strong and loyal following in the south.’’
The Lyne Street store was previously known as CRT before it was merged with Farmlands five years ago.
‘’It’s been in business for a very long time,’’ Reidie said.
The upgrade would take about seven months to complete, but Reidie believed it would be worth the wait.
‘’It’s an inconvenience we’d rather not have, but the end game is a much better store for our shareholders.
‘’It’s nice to be able to give something back,’’ Reidie said.
Gore Farmlands has been operating out of temporary premises in Gorton Street for the past few months.
The investment in Farmlands Gore follows the construction of a new Invercargill store 18 months ago in Victoria Avenue.
‘’It’s working well and has met our expectations.’’
Reidie said Farmlands still has more work to do in the southland with plans to extend the Otautau store.
‘’It’s not a purpose-built store and we have some logistical challenges.’’
Reidie said the new Gore store would be celebrated next year with an official opening ceremony.
Farmlands achieved another positive result for its shareholders this year with revenues reaching $2.39 billion, 10.7 per cent higher than the 2017 result.
Farmlands also delivered a profit $12.2 million – more than double the $5.4m it posted in the previous financial year.
The co-operative had also seen a 3 per cent growth in shareholder numbers over the past year.