Too many pizza shops?
Two Auckland suburbs with less than 10,000 people have more pizza shops than several towns in New Zealand.
Kumeu¯ -Huapai, two north-west centres along State Highway 16, had six pizza shops for less than 10,000 residents.
That was two more than towns like Whakatane and Blenheim which had a population of 18,000 to 32,000 people.
Even Gisborne, with a population of at least 40,000 people, only had three pizza shops. Timaru had more than 28,000 people but they had only five shops.
‘‘It seems a bit silly,’’ Waimauku resident Morgan MacFadyen said.
‘‘I don’t know if there is necessarily a demand in the market.’’
The pizza shops - Zac’s Pizza, GG’s Woodfired Pizzas, That’s Amore, Clayoven Gourmet Pizzeria and Dominos were all within walking distance from each other.
Pizza Hut was set to open in a few weeks.
Stats New Zealand suggested the area’s population would increase to more than 50,000 by 2043 – a growth factor of 173 per cent.
GG’s Woodfired Pizza owner Scott Limbrick said he wasn’t effected by the increase of pizza shops popping up around him.
His shop and Zac’s Pizza had been around for more than 20 years.
’’I always knew the big guns were coming eventually with development.’’