Prospa National Winner - Waikanae Beach Four Square!
Quoc Tran proud to be serving his customers and the local community!
Quoc Tran loves being a Kiwi and greets every customer into his shop with a broad grin. A friendly smile, a positive can-do attitude and is passionate about running his store. That’s Tran’s simple but effective recipe for success running a local business.
Tran operates Four Square Waikanae Beach and is hailed as the “ultimate friendly shopkeeper” by his customers. Now Tran has been recognised for his dedication to the community by being named the country’s National Winner in the Prospa Local Business Hero Awards. Tran is a proud winner of a prize package worth $10,000!
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Nomination Quotes - "Quoc Tan of Waikanae Beach Kapiti coast.
An exceptional guy who has worked very hard (& his wife too) since arriving in NZ from Vietnam. They operate a hugely friendly & now smartly updated Four Square superette. A very necessary & important store at Waikanae Beach."
"Quoc and his family are an integral part of our community"
"Quoc Tan - he represents all that embodies the very core of the reason NZ is proud to call itself an all-embracing, multi-cultural melting pot"
Six tips for improving security around your home
1) Improve outdoor lighting
Ensure that streets, driveways, and front yards are well-lit. Motion-sensor lights around homes deter trespassers by reducing hiding spots and illuminating their movements.
2) Trim your trees
Overgrown shrubs and trees provide cover for intruders. Keeping them well-trimmed around windows and doors improves visibility and reduces potential hiding spots.
3) Secure Entry Points
Ensure doors, windows, and gates are always closed when you are away from the house. Upgrade to more secure locks, deadbolts, or even smart locks for added protection.
4) Add a security camera
Place security cameras in the main entry points to your home. Doorbell cameras are also relatively cheap and a great way to keep track of who is visiting your home when you aren't there.
5) Start a Neighborhood Watch Program
You could reach out to members on Neighbourly to form a group of neighbors who can regularly keep an eye out for suspicious activity and report it. You could also check with Neighbourhood Support to see what is existing in your area.
6) Introduce yourself to your neighbours
The closer you are to your neighbors, the more likely they’ll notice when something unusual or suspicious is happening around your property
Feel free to share anything that you do around your area to deter crime.
Poll: Is dumping an issue in your neighbourhood?
There's nothing worse than strolling around the streets in your neighbourhood and seeing dumped rubbish.
Have you noticed this in your area? What could we do to combat this around the country?
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43.4% Yes, I've seen some illegal dumping
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56% No, our neighbourhood is pretty good
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0.6% Other - I'll share below
New World Havelock North car park
Sitting in my work van, in the new New World carpark and I’ve been getting dirty looks. I get it. My van is halfway into the driving area. Literally. If you look, even from a distance, you’ll see my back end is almost hard against the fence, with my towball around the corner of the fence.
My work van is over 6m long and the car parks are only about 4.5m. The only spaces I can park out of the way are the nearest and the furthest corners from the door. And that still means parking across another carpark. Today, both those parks were taken.
Now, before you point out that I shouldn’t bring such a big vehicle to the supermarket, 1) why not? Everyone needs to shop; and 2) I drive a retirement village resident passenger van. And they have as much right to shop as anyone.
Okay, so park in the mobility parks. Nope. I don’t have a Mobility decal or placard. And, those parks are the same length as all the others.
So, if you want to get me to stop blocking the way, do the supermarket survey on your receipts and ask for one way driving around the carpark (clockwise is the most logical and safest) and oversized parks. Almost every other supermarket has them. Vehicles are getting bigger, parks aren’t.