To celebrate the opening, GoBay bus services 6 and 7 to and from Flaxmere are free from today until Sunday, June 28.
The opening follows New World’s exit from Flaxmere in 2024, which led to the independent Flaxmere Supermarket setting up in its place last year.
Last week Flaxmere Supermarket announced its plan to close in early July.
There was initial opposition by Health NZ and police to Woolworths’ liquor licence for the new store, but it was granted in May.
Cultural groups from Flaxmere Primary School and Flaxmere College performed at the opening, with Flaxmere College’s kapa haka group giving a thunderous performance of the haka Tika Tonu as Hastings Mayor Wendy Schollum cut the ribbon to formally open the store.
Woolworths New Zealand director of property Matthew Grainger said it was the biggest crowd he’d seen at a store opening in his 12 years with the supermarket.
“This one really has been off the charts.”
Woolworths Flaxmere store manager Shannon Sibley (left), Hastings Mayor Wendy Schollum, TW Group chief executive Terry May and managing director of Woolworths New Zealand Sally Copland cut the ribbon to open Woolworths Flaxmere. Photo / Jack Riddell
Managing director of Woolworths NZ Sally Copland was at the opening and said it was a privilege to be there.
She said the local community, council and Woolworths had an incredible partnership bringing the store to life.
“We are grateful for that.”
Richard Waina, a 20-year-plus Flaxmere resident, was one of the first inside the new building and said he’d never seen as many smiles as he did during his first shopping foray around the new supermarket.
“I got all the typical things – oranges, bread, milk. Everything you need to keep you going,“ he said.
Flaxmere resident Richard Waina at the opening of the Woolworths Flaxmere store. Photo / Jack Riddell
The new supermarket was within walking distance of Te Pā Harakeke, Hastings District Council’s new housing complex for seniors.
Waina said it was great that older residents would no longer have to catch the bus into Hastings to do their supermarket shopping.
“I helped them get on and off the bus and help them carry their stuff home, and it’s come to this time now where they can just push their trolley down the road.”
He said he was off to tell his community about the new store “because they’re going to enjoy it”.
Mayor Schollum said the supermarket was the anchor to the wave of development coming to Flaxmere.
“It’s unlocked a new town centre, it’s unlocked confidence for other developments and so much more housing,” she said.
“This really is Flaxmere’s time.”
Councillor for Hastings District Council’s Flaxmere ward Henare O’Keefe said the new Woolworths just “changed the course of history”.
“It’s changing lives already with our people in there working – they’re earning a good honest pay. They’re going to put food in their bellies, clothes on their back and a roof over their head.
“We want to pull our weight and this is a symbol of all of that.
“There’s no community like this. Warts and all, we’re special.”
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in the UK, Germany, and New Zealand.