Supermarket family focus for 25 yrs

There has been a supermarket on Queen St in Waitara for more than 45 years now. With the possible exception of the now-gone freezing works, it is hard to think of another fixture of the town’s CBD that has endured so long.

In most settlements of modest size, the market is the heart and hub of the community, and this idea is very much in the minds of John and Craig Williams, the fatherand-son team running Waitara New World today.

‘‘It’s hard to believe that back in 1970, the supermarket here was the largest in Taranaki,’’ says John. ‘‘But it certainly was.’’

The store that stands on Queen St today has been expanded at least twice over the years, the major refurbishment in 2000 doubling its size.

John, who has been in the grocery business most of his life, took ownership of the supermarket in 1992 and today oversees it with his son Craig handling the day-to-day affairs as manager. John, former president of the NZ Grocers Association and a two-term member of TET, reckons he must be one of the longest-serving owner-operators in the country.

That service has seen plenty of change. ‘‘There used to be three supermarkets in Waitara,’’ says John. ‘‘Now there’s just us.’’

New World is one of the town’s major single employers with 65-70 staff on hand depending on the time of year. The idea of a large chain supermarket strangling competition in towns and hurting smaller businesses is something, however, that both John and Craig deny strongly.

‘‘You have to work with other businesses and co-operate with them,’’ says Craig. ‘‘For instance, Bin Inn might be seen as competition to us, but it’s really not that way at all.

‘‘Bin Inn handles a lot of speciality items, organic foods and so on, and we’re more than happy to leave them to handle that side of the market. Which they are doing extremely well in. If we all work together, we can cater to everyone’s needs, whatever they might be, and that’s good for all of us.

‘‘The people of Waitara love it. You simply have to work together in the smaller towns.’’

Just what are the most popular items in a market? The answer might surprise you. ‘‘Bananas!’’ says Craig with a smile. ‘‘Definitely our biggest sale item, and after that it’s the usuals … milk, bread, eggs.’’

Another feature of the market is the bakery, which produces a staggering number of items for such a (relatively) modest-sized set up. ‘‘I think we make and sell around 150 different lines of bakery item,’’ Craig says.

‘‘It’s all part of the overall strategy to add value … you want to produce new stuff all the time to keep up interest for the customers … you know, people like to see and try new things, and that’s what we do.’’

It’s an ever-changing business. No two days are the same. And people don’t usually think about how complicated the process is that gets something as simple as a can of beans from maker to shop shelf.

‘‘Automation has helped a lot, but it’s still the sort of business that you can’t leave behind when you go home. Especially when you are open every day like we are. It’s an involved job, but a great one.’’

John and Craig think alike on many things, among them their view of Waitara itself. ‘‘It’s a town with a lot to offer,’’ says John.

Craig offers the view that the regeneration of Waitara in recent years has had a lot to do with younger people moving into the area and investing in the thriving property market as well as joining the job market.

This leads John to comment: ‘‘We’ve been here a long time, and often we’ve had people who left work here come back after a space of years … I guess we must be doing something right!’’

And once again, the old reply to ‘What makes Waitara so great?’ comes up with John’s reply: ‘‘It’s a good town full of good people.’’