Spring Creek Four Square owner Allan Withers celebrates a half century of involvement with the brand. Photo Dan Hutchinson
by Dan Hutchinson
Fifty years ago Allan Withers’ mum wanted him to settle down and get a real job – he did and is still involved with the same company.
Now owner of the Spring Creek Four Square, Mr Withers has had half a century of involvement with the firm – starting off as a pricing clerk in Timaru in 1958.
Maybe chance or maybe his lifelong involvement with the brand has even made him look like the Four Square man, something that is not lost on his colleagues at head office as they acknowledged his 50 years with the brand last Thursday.
Either way, he personifies the store. His dry wit and customer focus make him a popular figure on the junction.
He started his working life as a teenager in the highly paid job of potato and carrot picking in South Canterbury.
It was not uncommon to earn up to 60 pounds a week in the fields – a giddy figure in those days and even more so for a young man.
“But Mum was not too happy with that. She wanted her boy to settle down and get a proper job.”
It was his mother who arranged the interview at the Four Square warehouse and the rest, as they say, is history.
“I went down to five pounds a week but that was life. I had a job, a permanent job.”
He moved to the Four Square Head Office in Christchurch in 1962 where one of his first jobs was to manually adjust all the prices for decimal currency.
“That was a huge job; there were no computers in those days.”He later moved into the buying section and transferred to Blenheim in 1968, for what was meant to be a three year stint.
“My family was from here and I liked it so I resisted moving back.”
He was heavily involved in opening the first New World supermarket in 1977 where Farmers now is.
Supermarkets were a relatively new phenomenon in the 1970’s. Previously the Four Square stores catered for grocery needs with about 2000 of them around the country.
“The town and whole district had many, many Four Square stores. Sadly, as supermarkets grew smaller ones closed down which was inevitable.”
In 1980, Mr Withers’ wife passed away and he decided on a change.
“I had my eye on this site for a number of years so I purchased the property and the 100-year-old shop that was on it at the time.”
His son Adrian came to work at the shop at that time too and is still there today, carrying on the strong family tradition.
“I have seen the area grow and develop, children having children. It is a nice feeling that they all come back and see you,” Mr Withers said.
He built the new Four Square store in 2002, installed a larger car park and provided for the reconfiguration of the busy Rapaura Rd, State Highway 1 intersection.
The old store was right on the highway’s edge, as a result of the road being realigned some time ago.
Four Square is now part of the Foodstuffs co-operative, something Mr Withers said was unique in the global supermarket scene.
Volume was very important in the grocery trade and the shareholder/supermarkets that own Foodstuffs can command the same prices as their competitors.
The benefits of the cooperative also extend to staff training and ensure young people entering the industry have a clear career path.
At the end of the day the basics of good prices and good service is what keeps the smaller format of stores like Four Square going.
The stores are also thriving in rural areas where travel distances and fuel prices are becoming more of an issue for customers.
Traditional post office services like motor registration and road user charges are also proving a boost to rural retailers, as is Lotto.
Coupled with good, local service, the Four Square format is thriving in rural and semi-rural areas.
Mr Withers also operates a bakery at the Four Square and offers prices as cheap as anywhere on basic items like milk and bacon.
“People tell us we are cheaper than the supermarkets in town. We can’t be as cheap in all areas because we don’t have the volumes.
“I think we give the public a good deal and that is reflected in the way they support us and it is also a strategic site.
“We have put the emphasis on pricing and service and so far we are holding on. We have good support and good staff. The public have confidence, not just with me but with the staff,” Mr Withers said.
Mr Withers still does six and a half days a week up to 12 hours a day but plans to “ease off” at some stage in the future. He says he can never claim to have had nothing to do.Until then he plans to do what Four Square has always done “look after the locals”.
by Dan Hutchinson
Fifty years ago Allan Withers’ mum wanted him to settle down and get a real job – he did and is still involved with the same company.
Now owner of the Spring Creek Four Square, Mr Withers has had half a century of involvement with the firm – starting off as a pricing clerk in Timaru in 1958.
Maybe chance or maybe his lifelong involvement with the brand has even made him look like the Four Square man, something that is not lost on his colleagues at head office as they acknowledged his 50 years with the brand last Thursday.
Either way, he personifies the store. His dry wit and customer focus make him a popular figure on the junction.
He started his working life as a teenager in the highly paid job of potato and carrot picking in South Canterbury.
It was not uncommon to earn up to 60 pounds a week in the fields – a giddy figure in those days and even more so for a young man.
“But Mum was not too happy with that. She wanted her boy to settle down and get a proper job.”
It was his mother who arranged the interview at the Four Square warehouse and the rest, as they say, is history.
“I went down to five pounds a week but that was life. I had a job, a permanent job.”
He moved to the Four Square Head Office in Christchurch in 1962 where one of his first jobs was to manually adjust all the prices for decimal currency.
“That was a huge job; there were no computers in those days.”He later moved into the buying section and transferred to Blenheim in 1968, for what was meant to be a three year stint.
“My family was from here and I liked it so I resisted moving back.”
He was heavily involved in opening the first New World supermarket in 1977 where Farmers now is.
Supermarkets were a relatively new phenomenon in the 1970’s. Previously the Four Square stores catered for grocery needs with about 2000 of them around the country.
“The town and whole district had many, many Four Square stores. Sadly, as supermarkets grew smaller ones closed down which was inevitable.”
In 1980, Mr Withers’ wife passed away and he decided on a change.
“I had my eye on this site for a number of years so I purchased the property and the 100-year-old shop that was on it at the time.”
His son Adrian came to work at the shop at that time too and is still there today, carrying on the strong family tradition.
“I have seen the area grow and develop, children having children. It is a nice feeling that they all come back and see you,” Mr Withers said.
He built the new Four Square store in 2002, installed a larger car park and provided for the reconfiguration of the busy Rapaura Rd, State Highway 1 intersection.
The old store was right on the highway’s edge, as a result of the road being realigned some time ago.
Four Square is now part of the Foodstuffs co-operative, something Mr Withers said was unique in the global supermarket scene.
Volume was very important in the grocery trade and the shareholder/supermarkets that own Foodstuffs can command the same prices as their competitors.
The benefits of the cooperative also extend to staff training and ensure young people entering the industry have a clear career path.
At the end of the day the basics of good prices and good service is what keeps the smaller format of stores like Four Square going.
The stores are also thriving in rural areas where travel distances and fuel prices are becoming more of an issue for customers.
Traditional post office services like motor registration and road user charges are also proving a boost to rural retailers, as is Lotto.
Coupled with good, local service, the Four Square format is thriving in rural and semi-rural areas.
Mr Withers also operates a bakery at the Four Square and offers prices as cheap as anywhere on basic items like milk and bacon.
“People tell us we are cheaper than the supermarkets in town. We can’t be as cheap in all areas because we don’t have the volumes.
“I think we give the public a good deal and that is reflected in the way they support us and it is also a strategic site.
“We have put the emphasis on pricing and service and so far we are holding on. We have good support and good staff. The public have confidence, not just with me but with the staff,” Mr Withers said.
Mr Withers still does six and a half days a week up to 12 hours a day but plans to “ease off” at some stage in the future. He says he can never claim to have had nothing to do.Until then he plans to do what Four Square has always done “look after the locals”.
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