Pak N Save

So it’s not glamorous, but then again who seeks out glamour at a supermarket? It’s well set-​out, the aisles are wide, meaning it’s relatively easy to navigate even at peak hour (though sadly, there’s nothing to be done about those shoppers who think they’re out for a Sunday stroll and/​or that the aisle is their exclusive domain… grrr!), and the prices are easily cheaper than at any of the other nearby stores. If you happen to be there towards closing-​time and are in luck, there are reduced-​to-​clear morsels to be found in the bakery section ~ I always keep my eyes peeled for those delicious spinach and feta filo pastries. Also there are often bulk deals on offer, which is convenient for people who, like me, prefer to make grocery-​shopping a once/​twice-​weekly affair. I often find that their cold cuts are cheaper than at rival stores, also.
I’ve yet to meet a staffer there who isn’t impeccably friendly and polite. You’d think a place like this would attract second-​tier service-​people, but whoever does the hiring clearly insists on their team being extremely friendly and well-​mannered.
I’ve always hated grocery-​shopping, but this place definitely minimizes the pain. For that, five stars :)

This Pak N Save is nice and new and modern, well on the outside its modern, but in the inside its just this big massive warehouse, with big wide aisles.
Its stuffed from floor to ceiling mainly full of packaged stuff, every time I come here it just reminds me of how much packaged food we eat these days, from cereal to snacks to noodles to canned food — a whole big aisle full of canned food, chips, biscuits, bread. I wonder what our Great Grandparents would think about all the packaged food we eat these days, I’m sure they would think we were crazy, just look at your trolley next time you go to the supermarket at your trolley full of packaged food.
Anyway the location of this supermarket is pretty convenient as its accessible to a number of suburbs and has easy motorway access, I mainly come during the week when its nice and quiet thank god, as I’m sure in the weekend it gets pretty busy.
I also often grab a coffee from the expresso coffee stand, I do wish that they had coffee cup holders in the trolleys.
I do think also from shopping at New World and Countdown that Pak n Save is the cheapest and its good if you don’t mind the packing at the end. They also have a convenient fuel station next to the supermarket and you can use the discount voucher provided on your receipt. I still think the petrol should be cheaper though considering its self service.

Even though I live in Ponsonby I still find myself driving across the bridge and towards Wairau when I need to do a big supermarket shop. I find that the savings are worth the extra petrol it takes me to drive to this Pak n Save and ultimately it’s only a 10 minute drive on the motorway so not even very time consuming.
The other main pull is that right next to the Pak n Save is a Mad Butcher (great for finding cheap meat deals, especially when they have specials on) and next door to the Mad Butcher is an Asian fruit and vege mart. So in one clean swoop I can do most of my weekly shop and feel like I’m really saving some precious money.