Foodtown
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| Former type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Fate | Rebranded to Countdown |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Defunct | November 13, 2011 |
| Headquarters | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Number of locations | 3 (2011)[1] |
| Parent | Progressive Enterprises |
| Website | www.foodtown.co.nz |
Foodtown was a New Zealand supermarket chain owned by Progressive Enterprises. The supermarkets usually tend to be integrated with a shopping mall, and not as stand-alone stores.
[edit] History
[edit] 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.
[edit] 1961 - 1988 Progressive Enterprises
In 1961 the company was restructured when the Picot family joined the business. Their family company, Progressive Enterprises, contributed an equal amount of capital to that accumulated by the three original partners and became the parent company to Foodtown Supermarkets Limited.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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".
[edit] 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.
[edit] Future
Progressive enterprises recently announced their intention to phase out the Foodtown brand. Existing Foodtown locations will be rebranded as Countdown over the next 5 years as each store undergoes periodic upgrades.[2] 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.[3]
[edit] Operations
There are currently 3 Foodtown supermarkets all operating within Auckland.
Foodtown also provides New Zealand wide services through its online shopping store.
[edit] Private Label brands
- Woolworths Select
- Woolworths Home Brand
- Woolworths Naytura
- Woolworths Freefrom
- Woolworths Essentials
- Signature Range
[edit] Previous Private Label brands
- Basics - Replaced by Homebrand in 2005
[edit] See also
- Woolworths
- Countdown
- Woolworths Limited
- Progressive Enterprises
- Woolworths Supermarkets Australia
- Big Fresh
- Price Chopper
[edit] References
- ^ "Progressive Enterprises Ltd". http://www.progressive.co.nz/our-company/progressive-enterprises.
- ^ "Foodtown, Woolworths brands on way out". http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10598704.
- ^ "Supermarkets rebranded in $1b overhaul". http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10598786.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Foodtown |
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