Night ‘n Day opens new premises after fire
Five months after an inferno gutted the Night %26#39;n Day store on Queenstown%26#39;s Rees St, franchise-holders Dan and Debbie Turnbull were yesterday putting the finish-ing touches on their new Camp St shop.
The early morning November 14 fire, caused by an electrical fault, destroyed Queenstown%26#39;s only all-night convenience store and the adjacent Opal Centre.
Now the new shop, opposite the Queenstown police station, is set to open in the next few days.
The couple were delighted to be opening again within such a short space of time. %26quot;Just finding a decent size premises in this town is so hard,%26quot; Mr Turnbull said.
He said when Pizza Hut decided to move out of the building they snapped up the lease.
There was a flurry of activity in the store yesterday as the premises was readied for opening. %26quot;We%26#39;ve got new staff training, people stacking, builders building and sparkies sparking,%26quot; Mr Turnbull said.
The premises was about 50 square metres larger than the Rees St store, however, most of the extra space was in the food-preparation area, not the shop floor.
Six staff who worked at the previous store had returned to work for the Turnbulls and they would be joined by about nine others.
New products and services would include fresh deli sandwiches made-to-order, hot chickens, milkshakes and a range of desserts.
The site of the old Night %26#39;n Day store is set to remain undeveloped for seven months. Land owner Skyline Enterprises had planned to construct a new two-storey building on the site in autumn. However, managing director Ken Matthews said the date had been set back.
%26quot;The issue is that we have to provide notice to the tenants of the Wakatipu Arcade and for the majority of those people we cannot get access to their tenancies until November 23.%26quot; It is understood the Opal Centre, currently in Beach St premises, will move back to its original location once the new building is completed.
