NZ’s largest retail store opens in Auckland

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New Zealand’s largest furniture and homewares retailer Nido opened its new $60 million, 27,000 sq m store in West Auckland.

New Zealand’s largest furniture and homewares retailer Nido opened its doors to the public on May 30 in what was described as a significant boost for the local economy.

The new $60 million, 27,000 sq m store in West Auckland will carry more than 10,000 product lines, and create 180 new jobs for retail workers in the coming year.

Managing director Vinod Kumar says hundreds of containers of product arrived in the months prior to Covid-19, which meant there was no interruption to supply lines.

“We have sourced products from New Zealand, Europe and the US, and will be the largest retail operation in the country,” Kumar says.

“For those outside Auckland, we will eventually offer online shopping functionality through our web site, and provide nationwide distribution for our products,” he says.

The locally-owned and operated store will open after nine years of research into the most innovative retail models internationally. It will house 80 exclusive brands, and feature more than 100 display rooms which will be continuously updated.

First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson says the opening of the store will bring a boost to retail confidence, and help reinvigorate the category amongst Kiwi consumers.

“People have been focused on their home environment for the past few weeks, and we know that during the lockdown the businesses in these categories have done very well selling their essential items,” he says.

Along with home makeovers, Wilkinson says businesses will also be looking to offerings like Nido as we transition to a new way of working post Covid-19.

“We are going to see a significant change in people’s workplaces, and more of us will be working from home. Business owners are also going to need to reconsider commercial environments and office solutions, so we expect to see growth here too,” he says.

Wilkinson says, increasingly, Kiwis are looking for shopping solutions that are brought together under one roof, and expects customers to travel from the Waikato and Bay of Plenty to purchase from the store.

“I think it’s inspirational for the New Zealand market — the products have been carefully curated to focus on what New Zealand consumers like and want.

“They have a universal appeal, but underpinning that is an answer to a Kiwi demand for products which have convenience and value,” he says.

Kumar says the size of the store is hard to comprehend, but to give some indication, it is able to accommodate a full-size three-bedroom show home inside, which has been home staged by the store’s team of interior designers.

He says the first stage of recruitment has been completed, with a further 90 roles to be advertised later in the year.

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