Work on the 720sq m Graham St site started in December and the new building is expected to open in late July.
It is twice the size of their existing SuperValue supermarket in the Tinwald shopping centre and has about 35 car parks for customers.
Gaylene said it was a timely move for them as a brand expansion saw SuperValue stores nationwide converted to FreshChoice.
‘‘SuperValues are changing over time and the perfect opportunity was for us to do this move at the same time,’’ Gaylene said.
‘‘We knew the site was going to be available and it suited head office as an option.’’
The Thompsons have been with SuperValue for 21 years and were excited by the change.
‘‘It’s great for Tinwald,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s got accessibility, parking and a bigger range - about a 30% bigger range on the current shop. Just over half of the site is car parking.’’
The building is on land owned by Carrfields and is being constructed by Calder Stewart.
A driveway access will be opened between the supermarket and the neighbouring NPD fuel depot, also on land owned by Carrfields.
‘‘It’s actually gone fairly to plan,’’ Gaylene said.
Carrfields general manager of property Graeme Wilkins said months of discussion resulted in a building design that suited everybody involved.
‘‘The obvious choice was to have a new supermarket, so very early on we contacted Paul and Gaylene about the opportunity to see if they wanted to relocate here,’’ he said.
‘‘Through those discussions (they) were in the position of moving with their tenancy coming up and it was a great opportunity,’’ he said.
He said acoustics, engineering and traffic consultants carried out the planning stages and Ashburton District Council had been good to work with.
‘‘We did everything to the T and got the sign-off from the council,’’ Wilkins said.
‘‘We are thrilled as landlords to have Paul and Gaylene on board, and Calder Stewart as our lead construction company.’’
He said it had been a good working partnership.
Calder Stewart Construction quantity surveyor Brooke Williams said the build was on target to be completed by July 17.
