Richards started working at the store as a security guard 18 years ago, when he was 70.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was good at reading people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get a sense when something\u2019s not quite right. Mostly though, it was about being respectful and helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richards quickly became a familiar presence at the front of the store with his calm, observant and polite manner.<\/p>\n
When new technology like facial recognition systems were introduced to the store, Richards decided it was time for a change, but retirement still wasn\u2019t on the cards.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I moved into grocery and I love it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get to help customers and stay active. I plan to keep working for as long as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pak\u2019nSave Napier owner-operator Sonya Hasselman (left) and Max Richards.<\/p>\n
Pak\u2019nSave Napier owner-operator Sonya Hasselman said Richards\u2019 impact goes well beyond his work.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s genuinely one of a kind,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur team is better because Max is part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before joining Pak\u2019nSave, Richards worked in sales, marketing, business ownership, bricklaying and as a race car driver \u2013 racing classic sports cars like his Triumph TR2 and Austin-Healey 100-S.<\/p>\n
He credited staying mentally and physically active as the key to his longevity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re working, you\u2019re thinking, you\u2019re moving. It keeps your mind ticking,\u201d Richards said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI walk every day, I talk to people and I feel useful. That matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richards turns 89 in June but won\u2019t take the day off, joking he prefers to be working.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone else is busy \u2013 why would I sit at home?\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside of work, he enjoys walking, spending time with family and heading to the pub on a Friday afternoon for a beer.<\/p>\n
Retirement holds little appeal, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as I can do the job properly, I\u2019ll keep turning up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Richards started working at the store as a security guard 18 years ago, when he was 70. \u201cI…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[51086,299,6276,1976,78,296,809,14571,424,3607,111,43,139,69,85474,9716,34962,90,27952,2171,19328,25319,544,6100,223,8229,61,810,4770,1316,6123,4576,12767,19135,1530],"class_list":["post-425014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-51086","tag-dream","tag-gets","tag-hawkes","tag-in","tag-into","tag-keep","tag-kick","tag-life","tag-napier","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-octogenarian","tag-old","tag-oldest","tag-on","tag-paknsave","tag-plans","tag-reach","tag-retired","tag-some","tag-still","tag-the","tag-they","tag-to","tag-up","tag-walking","tag-when","tag-while","tag-work","tag-worker","tag-working","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425014","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=425014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}