Chemist Warehouse continues store expansion, set to open one of its largest stores yet
The discount pharmacy retailer which has over 300 stores throughout Australia and New Zealand and estimated to be worth AU$5 billion ($5.5b) is gearing up to open one of its largest stores in New Zealand this year.
Construction for a 800 sq m store is under way at 155 Queen St, on the corner of Queen and Wyndham St, in Auckland CBD. It will be the retailer's first inner city store. Chemist Warehouse director Azman Haroon said the store would be one of the company's largest in New Zealand when it opens, and attract tourist and city office worker catchments. A date for the store opening is not yet known. "The city centre is an amazing place for shoppers and [Queen St] seems to be one of the key landmark streets in New Zealand, so we wanted to make sure that we had a very good offering there," Haroon said, adding that it took "a while" to find "the right site" for its first city centre store. "We wanted to make sure that we had one of our best [types of] stores in that area."
The CBD Chemist Warehouse store would be bigger than its large format stores located in Albany in Auckland's North Shore and in St Lukes. Chemist Warehouse will also open a store in Westfield Newmarket, next Thursday, when the first stage of the mega-mall owned and operated by ASX-listed Scentre Group opens to the public.
The retailer currently operates eight stores in New Zealand, it plans to have 12 trading by the end of the year. Haroon could not say where the other two stores in the pipeline would be located. Haroon said Chemist Warehouse wanted to open more stores in Auckland, and other major cities throughout New Zealand.
"We would like to see somewhere between 50 and 70 stores [here], based on our research," he said. "We want to partner with pharmacists and open as many stores as we possibly can." Chemist Warehouse, which offers free prescriptions, would open stores wherever the consumer wanted the brand, he said. Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck said Chemist Warehouse would increase foot traffic and activity on Wyndham St. "Chemist Warehouse will likely be a popular option for customers, and will bring more choice for our growing city centre community. This will also bring new activity to Wyndham Street, which is a key connection between Queen Street and Albert Street," Beck said. First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson said Chemist Warehouse's entry into the inner city would force prices down at competing pharmacies in the area. "The move will almost certainly see neighbouring pharmacies reduce or remove the prescription fee, as has happened in other areas Chemist Warehouse has opened in Auckland," Wilkinson said. Auckland CBD could accommodate up to three Chemist Warehouse stores, he said. "I would imagine the downtown area will be next in their sights, particularly as Commercial Bay comes on-stream."
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Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑
Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.
We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
Want to read more? The Press has you covered!
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57.8% Human-centred experience and communication
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13.5% Critical thinking
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25.9% Resilience and adaptability
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2.7% Other - I will share below!
Poll: Should complete designs be shared with the public, or should the community help shape the designs from the start?
The Post recently shared an opinion piece on the Harbour Crossing and why a more democratic approach might be needed 🚗🚲👟
While most decisions sit within the political arena, many organisations—like NZTA—manage long-term projects that go beyond party lines. Politics can sometimes disrupt progress, and the next Harbour Crossing is a big decision that will affect all Aucklanders.
We’d love your thoughts: Should near-complete, shovel-ready designs be shared with the public, or should the community have a hand in shaping the designs from the start?
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77.1% Community feedback and transparency is needed.
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22.9% No. This would be impossible in practice.
Even Australians get it - so why not Kiwis???
“Ten years ago, if a heatwave as intense as last week’s record-breaker had hit the east coast, Australia’s power supply may well have buckled. But this time, the system largely operated as we needed, despite some outages.
On Australia’s main grid last quarter, renewables and energy storage contributed more than 50% of supplied electricity for the first time, while wholesale power prices were more than 40% lower than a year earlier.
[…] shifting demand from gas and coal for power and petrol for cars is likely to deliver significantly lower energy bills for households.
Last quarter, wind generation was up almost 30%, grid solar 15% and grid-scale batteries almost tripled their output. Gas generation fell 27% to its lowest level for a quarter century, while coal fell 4.6% to its lowest quarterly level ever.
Gas has long been the most expensive way to produce power. Gas peaking plants tend to fire up only when supply struggles to meet demand and power prices soar. Less demand for gas has flowed through to lower wholesale prices.”
Full article: www.theguardian.com...
If even Australians see the benefit of solar - then why is NZ actively boycotting solar uptake? The increased line rental for electricity was done to make solar less competitive and prevent cost per kWh to rise even more than it did - and electricity costs are expected to rise even more. Especially as National favours gas - which is the most expensive form of generating electricity. Which in turn will accelerate Climate Change, as if New Zealand didn’t have enough problems with droughts, floods, slips, etc. already.
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