After being ravaged by floodwater during Auckland’s devastating weather event, Pak’nSave Wairau Road reopened on Saturday.

Owner-operator and North Shore local Quintin Proctor opened the 5700sqm store in 2009 as a part of the Foodstuffs North Island cooperative. He said the assistance he received in cleaning the store up and reopening for business was “phenomenal.”

Pak’nSave workers arrived on Saturday morning as flood waters started to recede to evaluate the damage and start the recovery process. Proctor and his team worked with Foodstuffs support staff to make sure the clean-up complied with health and food-safety standards.

“It’s been really humbling to experience this and how the team has come together,” said Proctor. 

“The support that’s been wrapped around the store by Foodstuffs teams, contractors, electricians and suppliers has been phenomenal. There have been hundreds of people coming through this business to help put it back together.” 

The store has been cleaned, and the flood-damaged goods have been replaced with new stock after hundreds of trucks removed contaminated and damaged food that could not be recovered. The shelving and cabling have been changed, as have the checkouts, which have been raised, cleaned, and sanitised.