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Story: Food shops

Wardells supermarket, 1956

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Wardells supermarket, 1956

Wardells super market in Willis St, Wellington, was one of the capital's first supermarkets – yet it seems tiny when compared with the supermarkets of the 2000s. At first shoppers were not used to being allowed to take groceries off shelves themselves, as the grocer normally did it for them.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, National Publicity Studios Collection

Reference: 1/2-034159-F

by E. Woollett

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Food shops – Self-service grocers and supermarkets, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/25499/wardells-supermarket-1956 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 6 April 2010, updated 1 September 2016.