Countdown Mount Roskill

Well there’s not much to say about a chain store such as countdown, but this particular one deserves a review as it’s one of the few Countdowns that has a ridiculously large car park, that is covered! Nice :)

I have been to this Countdown and I can report that it’s all shiny and new but overall I am not a fan of the Countdown shopping experience. If we need something, Countdown is our only option in Te Atatu but we do our weekly shop in New World. I just find Countdown uninspiring and they rarely have anything different or unusual to liven up your grocery shop. Granted you can get most of the mainstream products under one roof but for a dreary shopping experience, it’s not what you would call cheap. Pak n Save is also dreary but at least it’s cheap. Even the deli doesn’t have much to recommend it, unappetising looking olives and meats. I bought some swiss frankfurters here once and they tasted foul. Personally I miss the supermarkets in London such as Sainsburys and Tescos where you can get good food at an affordable price.

I am reviewing this Countdown because it is brand spanking new and it has an in house pharmacy, so you can get your groceries and drugs in one convenient location. Milk, bread, pregnancy test, it is all here. So first impression was, this place is huge, it is, massive open produce section, everything was nicely presented. The entire store was so tidy and shiny and all of the shelves well stocked. Due to its size you can expect to find more variety here and the aisles are nice and wide.
For a Countdown this one is probably the best and the merchandising in many parts focuses on making things easy for the customer and therefore in a clever way getting you to buy more. It is like when you shop online and those suggestions come up that say, ‘recommended products, you may like, others who purchased this also purchased .’ So for example, bulk nuts and dried fruits you will find plastic containers, in the bakery section, cartons of flavoured milk, in the fruit section packets of easiyo yoghurt, and so on. It is smart, so you see the chopped nuts by the ice cream freezers and you think, ‘good idea’. I think they’re on to something here.