In a moment shaped by economic pressure and evolving consumer habits, Kmart has opened its largest New Zealand store at Westgate Town Centre — a 6,700 square metre space designed not merely to sell, but to rethink how people move through commerce itself. The store's new Plan C+ format, born from listening to shoppers in two countries, places checkouts at the entrance rather than the exit, a small architectural choice that carries a larger philosophy: that convenience, not spectacle, is what earns loyalty in lean times. With 200 new jobs and plans to reshape all 27 remaining New Zealand locatio
Kmart opens largest NZ store with new Plan C+ format at Westgate
The store opening creates more than 200 new jobs for Kmart.
Checkouts moved to the front, beauty at the entrance, faster exits.
Mark
So they've moved the checkouts to the front. That's a pretty basic change—why does it matter enough to build a whole new store format around it?
Mimi
Because it changes the entire customer journey. Instead of walking through the whole store to pay, you shop what you want and leave. It's faster, less friction. Smith says it's based on what customers actually told them they wanted.
Luke
But we should note—that's Smith's interpretation of the feedback. We don't have the actual customer research. We're taking his word that this is what people asked for.
Mark
Fair point. What about the 50,000 products? Is that more or fewer than their other stores?
Mimi
The source doesn't say. We know this store has 50,000, but there's no comparison to their existing locations, so we can't tell if that's an expansion or just how they're counting inventory in this format.
Luke
Exactly. It sounds like a lot, but without context it's just a number.
Mark
They're opening this during a cost-of-living crisis. Is Kmart actually seeing more customers, or are they just hoping this format will attract them?
Mimi
Smith says value is more important now than ever, which suggests they're responding to real pressure. But the source doesn't give us sales data or customer traffic numbers to show whether their existing stores are actually busier.
Luke
We know they're creating 200 jobs, which is concrete. We know they want to roll this out to 27 other stores. But whether this format actually works—whether customers prefer it, whether it drives sales—that's still unknown.
Mark
So this is a bet, not a proven strategy.
Mimi
It's a bet based on Australian and New Zealand feedback, according to Smith. But yes, we won't know if it pays off until they've run it for a while and can show results.
Luke
And the omni-channel thing—online plus in-store—that's becoming table stakes for any retailer now. It's not unique to Kmart.
Mark
So what we're really watching is whether this specific store layout becomes the template for the rest of the chain.
Mimi
Exactly. If it works, they'll roll it out. If it doesn't, this might stay a one-off experiment.
The Pulse
- Cost-of-living pressures are reshaping what New Zealanders expect from retail — and Kmart is responding with a store built around speed, value, and ease rather than browsing.
- The traditional back-of-store checkout has been abolished, replaced by 17 self-checkout stations at the entrance, cutting the time between decision and departure.
- A newly expanded beauty section greets customers at the door, while women's and children's clothing departments have grown — changes driven directly by what shoppers said they wanted.
- The store runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, joining only two other New Zealand Kmarts in offering round-the-clock access, signalling confidence in sustained demand.
- Rather than treating online shopping as a threat, Kmart has woven e-commerce into the physical store through click-and-collect and drive-through pickup, framing the two channels as partners.
- The Plan C+ format is not a local experiment — Kmart intends to roll it out across all 27 of its other New Zealand stores, marking a long-term strategic transformation of the brand's retail presence.
In a moment shaped by economic pressure and evolving consumer habits, Kmart has opened its largest New Zealand store at Westgate Town Centre — a 6,700 square metre space designed not merely to sell, but to rethink how people move through commerce itself. The store's new Plan C+ format, born from listening to shoppers in two countries, places checkouts at the entrance rather than the exit, a small architectural choice that carries a larger philosophy: that convenience, not spectacle, is what earns loyalty in lean times. With 200 new jobs and plans to reshape all 27 remaining New Zealand locations, this opening signals a quiet but deliberate repositioning of discount retail in a nation feeling the weight of rising costs.
Kmart's new Westgate Town Centre store — the largest in New Zealand at 6,700 square metres — opens tomorrow morning, and it looks meaningfully different from what shoppers have come to expect. The most immediate change is where the checkouts sit: at the front of the store, not the back. Seventeen self-checkout stations now greet customers on their way out, sparing them the walk back through the full retail floor. It is a structural decision, but it carries a clear message about what the company believes shoppers value most right now.
This is the first New Zealand location to carry the Plan C+ format, a layout Kmart developed after gathering feedback from customers in Australia and New Zealand. The beauty department anchors the entrance, designed to create energy as people walk in. Women's and children's clothing sections have been expanded. Property general manager Ben Smith described the redesign as an effort to make shopping simpler — and acknowledged that value has rarely mattered more to New Zealand households than it does today.
The store will run around the clock, becoming the third New Zealand Kmart to operate 24/7, alongside Sylvia Park and Manukau. It will stock roughly 50,000 products and create more than 200 jobs, adding to the company's nationwide workforce of over 3,000.
Kmart is also positioning the physical store as a partner to its online channel rather than a rival. Customers can order digitally and collect in-store, or use a drive-through service where staff bring purchases directly to vehicles. Smith called this an omni-channel approach — the store and the website reinforcing each other.
Wesfarmers-owned Kmart, which first opened in New Zealand in Henderson in 1988, now operates 28 locations across the country. Smith indicated the Plan C+ rollout across the remaining 27 stores will unfold gradually, framing Westgate not as a one-off showcase but as the beginning of a longer transformation.
Kmart's newest store opens its doors tomorrow morning at Westgate Town Centre, and it represents a significant shift in how the discount retailer wants customers to move through its spaces. The store spans 6,700 square metres—the largest Kmart in New Zealand—and stocks roughly 50,000 products across departments that have been reorganized based on what shoppers actually told the company they wanted.
The most visible change is structural. Checkouts have moved from their traditional position at the back to the front of the store, a move designed to let customers pay and leave without navigating the full retail footprint. Seventeen self-checkout stations will handle the volume. This is the first New Zealand location to roll out what Kmart calls the Plan C+ format, a layout that emerged from customer feedback gathered in Australia and New Zealand. The company has already tested the model in other markets and believes it works.
Ben Smith, Kmart's property general manager, described the redesign as an attempt to make shopping "simpler and more convenient." The beauty department now sits at the front, creating what Smith called "colour and energy" as customers enter. Women's and children's clothing sections have been expanded. The overall flow, he suggested, mirrors how customers naturally want to move through a store. The Westgate location will operate twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week—making it the third Kmart in New Zealand to run around the clock, after locations at Sylvia Park and Manukau.
The timing of this expansion reflects broader retail pressures. Smith acknowledged that "value has never been more important than it is today," a direct reference to the cost-of-living squeeze affecting New Zealand households. Kmart is betting that a streamlined store experience, combined with competitive pricing, will draw shoppers during a period when discretionary spending has tightened.
The company is also threading a needle between physical retail and digital commerce. When asked about the rise of online shopping, Smith framed the new store not as a replacement for e-commerce but as a complement to it. Customers can order online and collect purchases in-store, or use a drive-through service where staff load items directly into vehicles. Smith described this as an "omni-channel experience"—the store and the website working together rather than competing.
The Westgate opening will create more than 200 jobs for a company that currently employs over 3,000 people nationwide. Kmart, which is owned by the ASX-listed Australian company Wesfarmers, opened its first New Zealand store in Henderson, Auckland, in October 1988. The company now operates 28 locations across the country. Smith indicated that rolling out the Plan C+ format to the remaining 27 stores will take time, suggesting this is a long-term strategic shift rather than a one-off experiment. The largest Kmart in Australasia—a multi-level store in central Melbourne—is only marginally bigger at 6,800 square metres, making the Westgate location a significant retail footprint for the New Zealand market.
Notable Quotes
Value has never been more important than it is today, given cost of living pressures.— Ben Smith, Kmart property general manager
Physical stores are a really important part of our omni-channel experience—customers can shop online, collect in-store, or use drive-through service.— Ben Smith, Kmart property general manager
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