Sign In / Register
Seven new retail stores at the Kowhai Falls shopping centre will start to open their doors progressively from November 29, the traditional Black Friday sales day.
The shops form stage two of the multi-million dollar development, which will eventually have a footprint covering 15,000 square metres.
Stage two sits at a right-angle to The Warehouse and Noel Leeming, which opened last year. The colourful facades of yellow, green and red represent Crackerjack, Supercheap Auto, Chemist Warehouse, Animates, NZ Bed Company, Hunting & Fishing and Repco.
The development is owned by former Wellsford local Glen Inger, who co-founded The Warehouse with Sir Stephen Tindall, and is being built by Warkworth-based Dobbyn Builders.
The new stores range in size from around 600 to 900 square metres, and include many of the environmental features of Stage One, including energy efficiency, and the same NZ timber structure and Metalcraft insulated panels.
Project manager Bevan Morrison admits the pre-Christmas opening deadline has been a challenge following the usual delays with council consents.
“It’s probably one of the fastest commercial builds in Auckland – 5000sqm in six months!”
The other challenge was securing retailers.
“The retail sector has had a pretty tough time over the past 18 months, so it took a bit of negotiation,” he said. “Plus, we wanted to get the right mix of tenants.
“We tried hard to get Number One Shoes in, but they didn’t feel it was quite the right time for them.”
Dobbyn is now looking at a start on a third building – between the latest development and Mitre 10 Mega – which will include a café and restaurant complex. This is likely to open around mid-2026. It will accommodate toilets and some smaller 100 to 200 square metres tenancies for businesses such as florists, hairdressers and opticians.
The final build by the roundabout is likely to include a paid underground carpark for possibly 60 vehicles to cater mainly for staff from the surrounding businesses.
A range of activities are being planned for the opening day on November 29 including food trucks and entertainment.
