,Refit a vote of confidence

For the first time in more than 20 years, Katanning Woolworths is undergoing a multimillion-dollar redevelopment.

Initial work on the major 12-week project has already begun and store manager Damien Ethell believes the company’s decision to invest showed its support to remain in Katanning.

“It’s a multimillion-dollar investment into the store, for us and the town that’s fantastic because we’re saying we are happy and we’re staying here, we’re not going anywhere,” he said.

Woolworths were tight-lipped on how much the project would cost.

Mr Ethell said shoppers might have noticed the reduced space in the fresh produce section or narrow shelving aisles in the Katanning supermarket but these were only temporary.

“We are actually flipping the store, so you’ll be entering from the right ... and fresh produce will be moved to there, along with bakery and meat, with new equipment, new fixtures, new tables,” he said.

The addition of self-serve checkouts to the store is one change Mr Ethell has had some resistance to, but he said staff attending regular checkouts would not be reduced.

“New checkouts will be going in; one thing we are getting a lot of resistance to, is people saying we don’t want to do self-serve,” he said. “The only thing I can say to that is we have 11 checkouts at the moment and we are going to have 18 or 19 once the new ones come in, so the self-serve is just an extra option to leave the store; we are not going to have less staff.”

In addition to the checkouts, the store will benefit from a total replacement of shelving, refrigeration, tables and equipment.

The refurbishment is due to be completed in mid-November before a major re-launch event on December 1.

Mr Ethell said Woolworths was one of the biggest employers of local people in Katanning and he hoped the upgraded store would attract more customers and allow them to employ more workers.