Reading International to Add Countdown Supermarket to Center in Downtown Wellington, New Zealand
May 08 2013 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
Reading International, Inc. (NASDAQ: RDI)
announced today that the company has entered into a lease to
incorporate a Countdown supermarket as an anchor tenant into its
“flagship” Courtenay Central Entertainment Center in downtown
Wellington, New Zealand. The new supermarket will be built on top
of the company’s surface parking lot on Wakefield Street,
immediately behind the Reading Entertainment complex that is
situated on Courtenay Place.
Countdown Managing Director Dave Chambers said: “The company has
been searching for the right Wellington CBD location for a number
of years, and is thrilled to have signed an agreement to lease a
site right in the heart of the city.
“It’s no secret that we have been interested in investing in
central Wellington for some time, but we were also determined to
find the right site, of the right size for the sort of offering we
want to provide, and with the access that our customers demand,”
said Mr. Chambers.
“We’ve been under-represented in the Wellington market and in
the last six months we’ve been working to change that by opening
stores in Newtown, Tawa and shortly, Petone. The customer response
has been great, and we’ve also been able to employ nearly 500 new
people as part of our Countdown team.”
Reading Chief Operating Officer John Hunter said: “The ground
floor of the existing center will be completely updated and
reconfigured to integrate Countdown and add new tenants that will
complement the supermarket.
“We are delighted to add such a strong and innovative tenant to
our center. The supermarket and planned new shops will add a very
strong traditional retail component to our already successful
entertainment center,” said Mr. Hunter.
Reading’s plans will add the 42,000-sq.-ft. Countdown
supermarket and reconfigures about 10,000 sq. ft. of existing space
in the current center for new tenants. Access to the existing
center, cinema, and the 1,190-space parking lot will also be
reconfigured. As it proceeds with fine tuning the projects design
elements via its master planning process, Reading is also exploring
retail and other options to activate the potential rental space
that will be created on top of the supermarket.
It is expected that the supermarket and overall project will
open in June 2015.
About Countdown
Countdown is one of New Zealand’s most recognizable and trusted
brands in supermarket retailing, serving more than 2.5 million
customers every week. As one of the country’s largest private
employers, Countdown has 165 supermarkets across New Zealand
supported by over 18,000 team members. Countdown is a subsidiary of
the publicly listed Australian company Woolworths Limited (ASX:
WOW).
Woolworths Limited is a preeminent retailer in Australia with
brands such as Woolworths, Safeway PowerHouse, Tandy, Woolworths
Liquor, BWS, Dan Murphy's, BIG W, Woolworths HomeShop, ALH Group,
Everyday Money and Everyday Rewards under its umbrella.
About Reading International, Inc.
Reading International (http://www.readingrdi.com) is in the
business of owning and operating cinemas and developing, owning and
operating real estate assets. Our business consists primarily
of:
- the development, ownership, and
operation of multiplex cinemas in the United States, Australia and
New Zealand; and
- the development, ownership, and
operation of retail and commercial real estate in Australia, New
Zealand, and the United States, including entertainment-themed
retail centers (“ETRC”) in Australia and New Zealand and live
theater assets in Manhattan and Chicago in the United States.
Reading manages its worldwide cinema business under various
different brands:
- in the United States, under the
- Reading brand
(http://www.readingcinemasus.com),
- Angelika Film Center brand
(http://www.angelikafilmcenter.com),
- Consolidated Theatres brand
(http://www.consolidatedtheatres.com),
- City Cinemas brand
(http://www.citycinemas.com),
- Beekman Theatre brand
(http://www.beekmantheatre.com),
- The Paris Theatre brand
(http://www.theparistheatre.com), and
- Liberty Theatres brand
(http://libertytheatresusa.com/);
- in Australia, under the Reading brand
(http://www.readingcinemas.com.au); and
- in New Zealand, under the
- Reading
(http://www.readingcinemas.co.nz) and
- Rialto (http://www.rialto.co.nz)
brands.
For more information on Reading International please visit
www.readingrdi.com or contact Andrzej Matyczynski at
213-235-2238.
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