Foodtown
Encyclopedia
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Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
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Progressive Enterprises
Progressive Enterprises Limited is an Australian owned company operating in New Zealand, and a subsidiary of the Australian retail group Woolworths Limited....
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Foodtown is a New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
chain owned by Progressive Enterprises
Progressive Enterprises
Progressive Enterprises Limited is an Australian owned company operating in New Zealand, and a subsidiary of the Australian retail group Woolworths Limited....
. The supermarkets usually tend to be integrated with a shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
, and not as stand-alone stores.
History
1958 - 1961 Foodtown Supermarkets Limited
On 18 June 1958, the first Foodtown supermarket of 1,400 square metres was opened on a 1.1-hectare site at Otahuhu. Three small business owners - Tom Ah Chee (New Zealand-born Chinese), Norman Kent, and John Brown - sold their small businesses and pooled their resources to personally build and supervise construction of New Zealand's first American-style supermarket. The Otahuhu market proved a success and a second Foodtown was built and opened in Takanini, South Auckland in 1961.1961 - 1988 Progressive Enterprises
In 1961 the company was restructured when the Picot family joined the business. Their family company, Progressive EnterprisesProgressive Enterprises
Progressive Enterprises Limited is an Australian owned company operating in New Zealand, and a subsidiary of the Australian retail group Woolworths Limited....
, contributed an equal amount of capital to that accumulated by the three original partners and became the parent company to Foodtown Supermarkets Limited.
1988 - 1992 Coles Myer Limited
In March 1988 Progressive Enterprises became part of the Australian company Coles Myer. During this time it saw the expansion of the Foodtown chain to areas outside Auckland (Hamilton, Wellington, Tauranga, Palmerston North and Wanganui) and also saw greater expansion within the wider Auckland area.1992 - 1994 Progressive Enterprises - Public Company
In April 1992 Coles Myer relaunched Progressive Enterprises onto the New Zealand stock exchange as a public company. During this time no new Foodtown Supermarkets were opened.1993 - 2005 Progressive Enterprises - Foodland Associated Limited (FAL)
In October 1993 Foodland Associated Limited (FAL) bought the majority shareholding from Coles Myer and shortly after bought all remaining public shares and delisted Progressive from the New Zealand stock exchange. With this purchase Progressive Enterprises became the parent company for a number of FAL brands. Progressive Enterprises consisted of: Foodtown Supermarkets, Countdown, 3 Guys, Georgie Pie Restaurants, Rattrays and Supervalue.On 17 June 2002 Progressive Enterprises Ltd bought Woolworths (NZ) Ltd from Hong Kong based owners Dairy Farm Group. The sale saw Progressive's supermarket brands Foodtown, Countdown, 3 Guys, SuperValue and FreshChoice joined by Woolworths, Big Fresh and Price Chopper. As a result PEL increased its share of the NZ grocery market to approximately 45%.
Foodtown was the first Supermarket in New Zealand to launch a loyalty card called the "Foodtown Card" which offered exclusive discounts and competitions to cardholders this was then renamed in 2003 after the merger of Progressive and Woolworths (NZ) Ltd and was called the "Foodtown Woolworths onecard
OneCard
OneCard is the an e-shopping company based in Saudi Arabia, which offers online payment and shopping services primarily in the Arab world and North Africa....
".
2005 - present Progressive Enterprises - Woolworths Limited
On 24 November 2005 Australian company Woolworths Limited purchased Progressive Enterprises Limited from Foodland Associated Limited.In October 2006, Progressive Enterprises announced a Discount Fuel Scheme with Gull Petroleum and Shell to offer discounts on petrol when shoppers spend $40 or more in their Woolworths, Foodtown or Countdown Stores. This scheme is similar to the one their Parent company Woolworths Limited offers in Australia.
Future
Progressive enterprises recently announced their intention to phase out the Foodtown brand. Existing Foodtown locations will be rebranded as CountdownCountdown (supermarket)
Countdown is a New Zealand full-service supermarket chain, owned by Woolworths Limited. Founded in 1981, Countdown is now the flagship brand of Progressive Enterprises, Woolworths' New Zealand supermarket subsidiary, with 133 supermarkets across New Zealand...
over the next 5 years as each store undergoes periodic upgrades. No existing Foodtown locations will be closed as a result of this. The current situation in some areas whereby there is a Foodtown in close proximity to a Countdown may result in two very nearby Countdowns, as in with Manukau City Mall located at Westfield Manukau and the stand alone Manukau branch located on Great South Road.
Operations
There are currently 3 Foodtown supermarkets all operating within Auckland.Foodtown also provides New Zealand wide services through its online shopping store.
Private Label brands
- Woolworths Select
- Woolworths Home Brand
- Woolworths Naytura
- Woolworths Freefrom
- Woolworths Essentials
- Signature Range
See also
- WoolworthsWoolworths Supermarkets (New Zealand)Woolworths is a New Zealand supermarket chain and a unit of Woolworths Limited.- 1929 - 1979 Woolworths :Founded in 1929 by Percy Christmas, the chain was separated from the parent company Woolworths Limited in Australia and was called Woolworths New Zealand...
- CountdownCountdown (supermarket)Countdown is a New Zealand full-service supermarket chain, owned by Woolworths Limited. Founded in 1981, Countdown is now the flagship brand of Progressive Enterprises, Woolworths' New Zealand supermarket subsidiary, with 133 supermarkets across New Zealand...
- Woolworths LimitedWoolworths LimitedWoolworths Limited is a major Australian company with extensive retail interest throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is the:* largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand by market capitalisation and sales...
- Progressive EnterprisesProgressive EnterprisesProgressive Enterprises Limited is an Australian owned company operating in New Zealand, and a subsidiary of the Australian retail group Woolworths Limited....
- Woolworths Supermarkets Australia
- Big FreshBig FreshBig Fresh was opened in 1988 with its first store in Mount Wellington Auckland. Big Fresh offered a wide range of fresh foods, discount groceries in large market-style store. The concept for Big Fresh was based on a Farmers Market with their focus being on their extensive range of fresh foods...
- Price ChopperPrice Chopper (New Zealand)Price Chopper was part of the Woolworths New Zealand Supermarket Group, their brands included: Woolworths, Big Fresh and Price Chopper.- History :The Price Chopper format evolved as a discounter with a limited fresh foods offer in 1987...