Parking perks and produce picks
Waverly’s new Four Square goes big for community
Waverley Four Square today opened as a full supermarket in new premises for owners Steve and Rosie Dowman. Steve Dowman said a lot of effort had been put in to get the new store open. “It’s going to be great for the town, bringing full supermarket shopping,” he said. “There will be a carpark to come, so all the parking problems in town will be over.
“As owners, we’re here to look after our community. When going through Covid, we had some hard times with mask mandates, trying to follow the law.
“We wrote letters to MPs to try and get the law changed so the focus was more on individuals for choice. The next day, Harete Hipango, National Party List MP Te Tai Hauāuru (Whanganui) drove to Waverley to support us,” he said.
Hipango said the store opening was a day of celebration.
“Steve and Rosie, this is your moment, it is a shared one with the community of Waverley and South Taranaki.
“What’s lovely about the word community, is the common unity that draws us together. This is a place of food that nourishes Waverley and all the passers-by.”
South Taranaki Mayor Phil Nixonsaid it was “absolutely brilliant” to see so many from the community at today’s opening.
“To have a purpose-built building which will give full supermarket facilities is absolutely great here in Waverley.
“It employs 16 people from the local community. Employment is huge in this area, so that’s fantastic. It couldn’t be done better than by a couple who are so committed to the community. Through their Waverley Four Square store, Steve and Rosie have done a lot of sponsorship locally - rugby, bowls, racing and many other causes.
“Steve was recently awarded his 25-year Star from the Fire Brigade, as a former fireman in Raetihi, chief fire officer Ohakune and deputy fire chief in Waverley. That’s fantastic service to the community.
“There’s DNA in the Dowman family with supermarkets, with a brother involved in New Plymouth owning New Plymouth City New World, and a nephew in Hawera who owns Hawera Pak’nSave – there’s a record of the family supporting local communities.
“Down the track, Waka Kotahi will raise the ground for a footpath directly across the road to link to the statue of racehorse Kiwi and jockey Jimmy Cassidy, New Zealand’s Melbourne Cup winning horse with Cassidy in full flight on Kiwi’s back.
Trained by Waverley’s Snow Lupton, Kiwi won the Melbourne Cup on November 1, 1993, and won the Wellington Cup the same year, a feat that has not been repeated before or since.
The initial life-sized mould of Kiwi and jockey Jim Cassidy was donated to Waverley by New Plymouth artist, the late Fridtjof Hanson. It has been bronzed in Wellington.
Former owner of Waverley Four Square for 17 years, Owen Savage, cut the ribbon to open the new supermarket. “To have a shop like this built in Waverley is just amazing, I’m sure this will be the best Four Square in all of New Zealand,” he said.
“We are so lucky to have Steve and Rosie as owners, from day one they have been fully involved with the community. After a few months, they had to stop supporting Ruapehu and start supporting Border for their rugby games.
‘The staff make a massive difference to a business, they are always so helpful and a joy to have to serve you,” he said.
The original Waverley Four Square opened in 1934.
Four Square this year reaches the 100-year milestone as part of Foodstuffs Cooperative.