Demolition of the former home of Southern Colour Print, in Turakina Rd, behind the home improvement store is under way.
Owner Martin Dippie said the property was bought a couple of years ago and was being demolished to make way for "a massive expansion of our trade operation".
The new site would not be open to the general public or smaller trades outfits.
The existing public drive-through at the Andersons Bay Rd site would stay as it was.
Instead, the new 6000sq m trades distribution centre would complement the 4000sq m trades distribution centre inside the main site — creating a total 1ha footprint for the store’s distribution centre for building materials and timber for professional tradesmen.
"We’re really excited.
"It’s a massive expansion.
"It’s a really fast-growing part of our business," Mr Dippie said.
"We’ve been here for a long time and we’ve outgrown our premises, because we’ve got so many customers."
There would be an express pick-up area in Midland St and trucks would enter the site through Turakina Rd, he said.
Mr Dippie believed it would be one of the largest trade distribution centres in the country.
"It was very fortuitous that we could buy such a large site.
"It’s excellent, from a logistics point of view, to have such an expanded trade operation right across the back boundary."
However, demolition was proving to be "a bit more complicated" than first thought.
The building had five-rib roofing on it, which contained asbestos, he said.
Crews had "carefully and correctly" worked to dismantle the building.
The building would be covered during its removal, creating a six-week delay for the work programme.
Southern Colour Print was sold to Bluestar, a nationwide marketing and printing company, and ceased trading last year.
