The official opening of the the company’s 6000sq m, $18 million premises between Dee and Ribble Sts had been delayed by about a month due to Covid-19 and it was now scheduled to open in early August, Collins Group general manager Simon Lye said.
Work was halted in Alert Level 4.
“Work got under way again, following the Government’s Covid-19 guidelines, at Alert Level 3 when non-essential trades were allowed to resume,” Mr Lye said.
About 100 contractors had been on site throughout the build and the fit-out of the store had created a significant number of jobs in the district, as would the impending opening, Mr Lye said.
“There will soon be around 50 people working on the store fit-out at any one time.
“We’re currently recruiting team members to work in the store and will likely employ 25 to 30 people in a mix of full-time and part-time roles.
A franchise owner for the planned Columbus Cafe at the store was yet to be found, and Mr Lye said it was a “great opportunity for a good operator to build another new business for the area”.
Collins Group owns and operates Mitre 10 stores in Oamaru, Ashburton and Timaru.
