{"id":389965,"date":"2026-04-21T06:07:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T06:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/389965\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T06:07:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T06:07:16","slug":"kmart-westgate-aucklands-biggest-new-store-to-create-240-jobs-opening-this-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/389965\/","title":{"rendered":"Kmart Westgate: Auckland\u2019s biggest new store to create 240 jobs, opening this winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kmart Westgate<\/a> is on Maki Place, off Maki St.<\/p>\n

It is due to open this winter and is 6700sq m, which is just over half the size of Costco Wholesale across the road.<\/p>\n

Smith said Westgate was ideal for such a large-format, all-hours and seven-days-a-week shop.<\/p>\n

\"EntranceEntrance to Kmart Westgate is at the far end of the site, at the centre of the image. This is as at April 17, 2026. Photo \/ NZ Retail Property Group<\/p>\n

\u201cWestgate is a key investment in our store network and the communities we serve. As Kiwi families face rising costs, making everyday products more affordable and accessible matters more than ever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kmart has been advertising a number of roles lately, including for an overnight manager. <\/p>\n

Kmart will offer its biggest range of affordable homeware, furniture, electronics, toys and clothing from the new store.<\/p>\n

Kmart already has more than 300 Australasian outlets, serving millions of customers annually.<\/p>\n

\"ThisThis map shows Westgate and all the businesses operating there. Kmart’s new location is shaded in blue in Zone 06. Image \/ NZ Retail Property Group<\/p>\n

Kmart Westgate will be bigger than the almost half-hectare shop of just under 5000sq m, Kmart Manukau<\/a>, which opened in 2023.<\/p>\n

It will have wider aisles, bold graphics and extended product ranges.<\/p>\n

\"WestgateWestgate Lifestyle Centre outlined in blue when it was marketed by Colliers. Costco is shown to the lower left. Photo \/ Colliers<\/p>\n

The development site where Kmart is being built is directly opposite the Westgate Lifestyle Centre<\/a>, which is anchored by Harvey Norman, Briscoes and Rebel Sport.<\/p>\n

In 2023, that 28-store lifestyle centre sold for $85.7 million, the vendor being Kiwi Property Group.<\/p>\n

Kmart New Zealand passed $1 billion in annual sales for the first time last year.<\/p>\n

\"KmartKmart Westgate opens on July 1.<\/p>\n

The Wesfarmers-owned retailer reported <\/a>total revenue of $1.022b for the 12 months to June 30, 2025, up 2.3% from $999.5m in 2024.<\/p>\n

But its bottom-line net profit fell 3.7% from $106m to $102.1m on the back of higher expenses.<\/p>\n

\"CampbellCampbell Barbour of NZ Retail Property Group. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n

Campbell Barbour, general manager of Westgate owner NZ Retail Property Group (NZRGP), said thousands of people now work at nearly 500 businesses at the fast-expanding town hub.<\/p>\n

\"KmartKmart Westgate is behind this construction site. A crane on the shop’s site can be seen at the centre of this image. Photo \/ Anne Gibson<\/p>\n

\u201cI would estimate that this project and others we have completed recently have created over 1000 new jobs at Westgate in the last three years,\u201d Barbour said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the scale of the developments over the last five years at Westgate, it is now one of the dominant retail locations in Auckland,\u201d Barbour added.<\/p>\n

\"KmartKmart Westgate, as at last October. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n

The construction project had also provided work for hundreds of local tradies and their businesses at a time when it\u2019s been really needed.<\/p>\n

Such a big project would create more local employment opportunities at Westgate.<\/p>\n

The new Westgate bus station is also being built a block away on Gunton Drive. <\/p>\n

A new discounting outlet has also opened in the first part of Westgate.<\/p>\n

However, the town centre\u2019s attempts to resolve traffic connections in 2023 failed, first in the High Court at Auckland<\/a> then last year in the Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n

Mark Gunton\u2019s Westgate Town Centre, Westgate Properties and NZRPG Management did not have their claims<\/a> upheld.<\/p>\n

\"MarkMark Gunton, founder and owner of NZ Retail Property Group which built Westgate. Photo \/ Nick Reid<\/p>\n

The case<\/a> against Auckland Council and Auckland Transport ran for weeks three years ago, with Bruce Gray, KC, heading Gunton\u2019s legal team and Richard Lange mounting the successful defence.<\/p>\n

Gunton\u2019s companies sought $87,775,175 in damages: $69,575,175 for property capital value loss and $18,200,000 for rental income loss plus interest and costs.<\/p>\n

He claimed the contractual breaches meant the town centre development had not proceeded in the integrated, cohesive manner intended. <\/p>\n

That rendered the town centre \u201cdysfunctional\u201d and meant property value and rent losses were suffered.<\/p>\n

But the council and Auckland Transport challenged Gunton to prove his claims and also challenged the accuracy and reliability of aspects of his evidence. <\/p>\n

Many of the documents presented were irrelevant to determining contractual breaches, Lange said.<\/p>\n

Despite losing that battle, Gunton is continuing to expand Westgate quickly.<\/p>\n

Finance Minister Nicola Willis said<\/a> last year that Costco Wholesale Westgate<\/a> had 250,000 members and employed hundreds of staff.<\/p>\n

\"ThisThis photo was taken up close to the new Maki Centre at Westgate on January 28 last year \u2013 the centre is now completed. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n

Costco Wholesale Westgate is a $100m+ investment.<\/p>\n

Amazon has stalled development of its new datacentre at Westgate but the area set a record last year<\/a> for having one of the largest retail projects after Sylvia Park\u2019s Ikea.<\/p>\n

The 18,000sq m Maki Centre at 33-47 Northside Drive was finished some time ago and prominent brands trade from there, including Tesla.<\/p>\n

Early Settler leased a large-format space in the Maki Centre too.<\/p>\n

Barbour said two further announcements were pending that would indicate further expansion at Westgate.<\/p>\n

Anne Gibson<\/a> has been the Herald\u2019s property editor for 26 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.<\/p>\n

Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kmart Westgate is on Maki Place, off Maki St. It is due to open this winter and is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[23537,1443,3952,201738,6326,3937,5232,5426,201737,156,232,29540,117,111,139,69,10521,2680,17286,659,312,59574,1516,2735,1361,1961,7563,61,201736,1316,1533,23644,102,2963],"class_list":{"0":"post-389965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-23537","9":"tag-about","10":"tag-aucklands","11":"tag-australianheadquartered","12":"tag-biggest","13":"tag-chief","14":"tag-create","15":"tag-created","16":"tag-employ","17":"tag-entertainment","18":"tag-jobs","19":"tag-kmart","20":"tag-new","21":"tag-new-zealand","22":"tag-newzealand","23":"tag-nz","24":"tag-opening","25":"tag-opens","26":"tag-operation","27":"tag-retailer","28":"tag-says","29":"tag-specifically","30":"tag-staff","31":"tag-store","32":"tag-that","33":"tag-this","34":"tag-those","35":"tag-to","36":"tag-westgate","37":"tag-when","38":"tag-will","39":"tag-winter","40":"tag-with","41":"tag-zealands"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}