PAK’nSAVE Wairau Road in Auckland re-opens for business at 7am tomorrow (Saturday 4th February) after being devastated with floodwater during the recent Auckland weather event. The 5,700sqm store, a part of the Foodstuffs North Island co-operative opened in 2009 by owner operator and local North Shore resident, Quintin Proctor.
Quintin, was at home with his family when the flooding began and by the time he arrived his supermarket was swamped with water.
“My duty manager and team were on site at the time, they called me and said looks like there’s a bit of water coming into the store, I jumped in my car and tried to get here, but the roads had flooded, and most were blocked, it was chaos out there. By the time I managed to get there, the store had flooded, and my team told me there were people upstairs trapped. My top priority was their safety and how to get them out. I called my electrician out and we waded into the building and secured the electrical risk. There were 80 odd people upstairs with power going on and off. We explained the situation to them and how we planned to get out – we stuck to the middle of the store, linked into a chain and walked out – I explained to them that as they got outside they’d feel a tug on their legs as the current pulled but not to be alarmed and just stay linked and close to the sides of the building, I was at the front and security at the back.
We got everyone safely out and to high ground – then we focused on getting people home. I even put a few in my car and drove them”.
On Saturday morning as flood waters receded, teams arrived on site to access the damage and begin the repair process. Quintin says the support he’s received to get the store cleaned up and open for business has been phenomenal. Foodstuffs support experts in food safety were alongside Quintin and the team to ensure the clean-up met health and food safety regulations. The store has been deep cleaned and flood damaged stock has been replaced with fresh stock as hundreds of trucks removed contaminated and damaged food that unfortunately couldn’t be salvaged. The shelving and cabling have been replaced, the checkouts lifted, cleaned, and sanitised.
“The damage was significant. The store had been steeped in knee deep water – Fresh foods was a 100% write off because we’d had to turn the power off so that was all gone – anything the flood water had touched we had to write off. Every piece of machinery was damaged – ovens, fridges all gone. It was just devastating. “
“It’s been really humbling to experience this and how the team has come together. The support that’s been wrapped around the store by Foodstuffs teams, contractors, electricians and suppliers has been phenomenal – There’s been hundreds of people coming through this business to put it back together.”
After being open for 14 years many locals depend on PAK’nSAVE Wairau Road for their groceries and Quintin has a large and loyal customer base. He is relieved that he has been able to get the store opened so quickly after the deluge and once again able to provide his community with a supermarket that offers groceries, you’d be hard pressed to find better deals on.
“I’m humbled by all the work by team have done, they turned up and they did it – I want to let our customers know we’ve gone 110% to get this place back together and we just want to get back to serving the community. I know we’re going through an experience but so is the community, there’s people out there that I know will be suffering as well. So, when we open the doors, we’re going to go hard like we normally do. We’re going to go hard on price and over deliver to our community.
