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hard news
Mitre 10 MEGA Wanaka
– the “Westfield of Wanaka”
ALMOST A YEAR on since throwing open the doors to Mitre 10 MEGA Wanaka, General Manager Mark Watson says the trailblazing store and its community- focused offering has been embraced by locals and visitors alike.
Mark has worked with the Dippie family for over 30 years and says it has been extremely rewarding to see the community embrace the store and the many new and interactive experiences on offer.
With just a handful of retailers in town, the store fills a range of needs beyond the usual home improvement offering.
“Customers have nicknamed the store ‘the Westfield of Wanaka’ because we offer such a broad selection of products, services and community facilities.
“From most things hardware to a very large homeware department and garden centre, to things like snow chains, we are effectively a general store for locals and holidaymakers,” says Mark.
Owned by Mitre 10 New Zealand Chair Martin Dippie and brother
Allan Dippie and their wives, Mitre 10 MEGA Wanaka features some interesting customer-focused pilot programmes, including several “hubs” designed around customer and community needs.
One of these is the Tool Hub, a hands-on demonstration and trial space which has proved popular with locals and where Mark Watson is hoping to see more supply partners come in-store to demo new and exciting products to customers and team members alike.
Trade customers have free access to meeting lounges in the Trade Hub where they can bring clients to discuss plans and compare materials, and to investigate new products for future projects.
But it’s the Garden Hub that has been the most well-used so far, says Mark Watson, often playing host to in-store demonstrations like rose pruning, and hands-on workshops driven by the latest garden and houseplant trends, like kokedama and hanging baskets.
Kids Club events and Easy as Kids workshops – very popular with locals – are also held in the Garden Hub.
Says Mark Watson: “Future marketing
L-R: Allan Dippie; Mark Watson; and Martin Dippie (photo Christina Hollins).
for the store will be based around these hubs as we push for suppliers to come in and demonstrate their latest innovations.
“We’re also running useful sessions tailored to local conditions, like how to fit snow chains.”
The latest interactive customer experience gets underway this month using Mitre 10 MEGA Wanaka’s demonstration kitchen, complete with free standing gas oven and hob which will be fired up by a team member – who just happens to be a qualified chef.
BBQ and rotisserie demonstrations will feature, along with expert advice on getting the best out of your appliances and ingredients.
Touch screens installed in key
areas offer another engaging in-store experience – one is almost the size of a fridge – and although Mark Watson says it took a while for customers to adopt
the screens as a resource, they now really value the instant access to knowledge and advice.
The Wanaka team has also been testing content like the Easy As material with Stan Scott and the Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori stories, learning what customers like and interact most with, on top of which they save time by providing easy access to products and stock levels.
10 NZHJ | OCTOBER 2021
MORE AT www.hardwarejournal.co.nz