Grocery shopping

Canned foods, first produced in the 19th century, have been an important convenience item for New Zealand cooks, despite an emphasis on home gardens and orchards for much of the 20th century.

These women are shopping at a Woolworths supermarket in 1964. The first outlet offering ‘one-stop’ shopping was probably the Four Square supermarket opened in Devonport, North Shore, by Bill Miller in 1957. Among the first supermarkets was the Foodtown 'all-convenience' store which opened in Ōtāhuhu in June 1958. It boasted 118 car-parking spaces.