Pak’nsave Gisborne Open For Trade

PAK’nSAVE Gisborne staff, friends and suppliers worked through the night to clear up the store, following last night’s earthquake.

Store owner Hamish Walton estimates the cost of stock losses in the tens of thousands of dollars.

He says the quake hit shortly before the store was closing, when there were about 75-80 staff and shoppers in the building.

“It was quite dramatic. All of the racking in our stores is designed to move in these sort of situations – but if you don’t know that, it can be quite frightening. We lost a lot of stock from the retail shelves, but nothing came down from our high racking.

“The front of the wine department collapsed onto the floor, but everything that fell was below shoulder level. There was never any danger to anybody,” he says.

“It’s been a huge clean-up job and there’s been a tremendous effort from staff, suppliers and friends to ensure we were ready to trade today as soon as we got the all-clear from the council.”

Mr Walton says while it was very dramatic when the quake hit, shoppers soon regained their composure.

“After the quake was over, we even had customers asking if they could finish their shopping and go through to checkout. Unfortunately we couldn’t, but they’re welcome to return today. Our shelves are fully stocked again and we’re open for Christmas trade.”

ENDS

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