Auckland, New Zealand, 2016-Nov-26 — /EPR Retail News/ — New World Hutt City is currently closed due to the possible demolition of a neighbouring building at the Queensgate Mall.
Just prior to 8pm this evening (24/11/2016) Hutt City Council issued Foodstuffs with a warrant under the s129 Building Act 2004 regarding earthquake damage risk identified with the Queensgate Building. Receipt of the warrant means that with immediate effect the decision was taken to close New World Hutt City. The store will remain closed until further notice.
No other Foodstuffs stores in the Wellington region are affected by this issue and there are no safety issues with the New World Hutt City building. The store has been cleared by engineers following last week’s earthquakes and the closure is a precautionary measure only due to the potential risk posed by the neighbouring Queensgate Building.
“We are unable to give any further detail at this stage,” says Chris Quin, CEO, Foodstuffs North Island Ltd. “Our priority right now is with the customers and staff and ensuring the appropriate measures are taken with the closure of the store. We apologise to customers for the inconvenience, but staff and customer safety is paramount and legally we are required to act.”
The Williams family have been part of the Hutt City community for around 30 years, they are 100% committed to working with council and getting the store open again as soon as possible.
Steve Williams says, “Sarah and I are absolutely gutted that the store has been closed tonight. The team really pulled together following last Sunday night’s earthquake, they pitched in to get the store cleaned up and open for business and despite the aftershocks and bad weather we kept serving our loyal customers. To get through all of that unscathed and have the store closed due to risk from a neighbouring building is really tough to deal with – I’ve personally been at this store for over 25 years and I can guarantee you we’re not going anywhere. Our top priority is working with council to get the store open and serving the community again as soon as we can.”
“On behalf of the Williams family I would like to apologise to all of our loyal customers for the inconvenience, please bear with us, we are doing everything we can to work this through and get back to business as usual,” says Steve.
New World Hutt City customers are advised that the nearest New World stores to Hutt City are;
- New World Stokes Valley – Oates/Evans Streets, Stokes Valley
- New World Silverstream – 28 Whiteman’s Rd, Silverstream
- New World Railway Metro – Wellington Railway Station, 2 Bunny Street, Wellington
- New World Thorndon – 150 Molesworth Street, Thorndon
For up-to-date information on the status of this store please go to the New World Facebook page.
For further information please call Hutt City Council on 027 403 5348 .
Source: FoodstuffsNZ