What one changing suburb tells us about Auckland | RNZ

Residents of Blockhouse Bay in southwestern Auckland were dismayed to learn early last year that their local Woolworths supermarket was earmarked to close | Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/RNZVideo?sub_... While the Donovan Street store wasn't the largest supermarket in the area, many living nearby treated it as an extension of their household refrigerators, popping down to the neighbourhood hub on a near-daily basis to pick up grocery supplies. Rumours started circulating that a large chemist chain had taken over the lease or, worse still, that the 2,200-square-metre site had been sold to developers who wanted to build a block of apartments on it. So it was with some relief that locals learned the lease had been taken over by grocery chain Golden Apple, with plans to open a fully functional Asian supermarket in August this year. But the recent tenancy changes at the heart of the village in this quiet residential Auckland suburb represent more than just a straight retail swap from a mainstream supermarket giant to an emerging rival. It mirrors Auckland's wider demographic changes as an increasing number of residents claim Asian heritage: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/chinese/58... Video: Yiting Lin Words: Duoya Lu