About the store

There’s no need to head into town, the Whananaki General Store has all your supplies.

Groceries - full range of pantry essentials for breakfast, lunch and dinner including fresh milk and bread delivered daily
Produce - fresh fruit and vegetables, always local when available
Meats - sausages, steaks, chops and cured meats sourced from local butchers
In-store Bakery - fresh buns and bread baked each weekend (daily over summer)
Personal items - oral care, hair care, sanitary products, soaps, lotions and medicines
Hardware - whatever you need to fix, patch, stick, screw, replace, sort out or clean up
General merchandise - laundry and cleaning, rubbish bags, stationery, pots and pans, BBQ
Fishing gear and bait
Alcohol - beer, wine and spirits
Holiday necessities - party ice, salt ice, sunscreen, toys, comics and the latest books for reading on the beach
Tobacco and vaping products

We are also the local agency for NZ Post and accept and hold letters and parcels for delivery.

Hours

The store is open 364 days a year (we’re closed Christmas Day). Our standard hours are:

Monday-Thursday 8:30am-5pm
Friday, Saturday, Sunday 8:30am-6pm

We have longer opening hours between Boxing Day and Waitangi Day.

Brenda's Kitchen

Brenda’s Kitchen is our cafe and takeaways serving delicious breakfasts, fresh kai moana (seafood), burgers and other staple takeaway meals. See our menu here. Brenda’s Kitchen is open Friday 12pm-6pm and Saturday and Sunday 9am-6pm, longer during summer.

Barista coffee is available at Brenda’s Kitchen, or inside the General Store itself on days the kitchen is closed.

History

Whananaki has had a store for 140 years, ever since Hikurangi coal miners came to relax by the sea after their many days underground.

Originally over the bridge in Whananaki South, the store relocated to Whananaki North - over the road from its current location - in the early 1900’s. For most of the 20th century Whananaki General Store sold groceries, dry goods, hardware, meat and produce - but also served as Whananaki’s sole petrol station, post office and telephone exchange.

The store has burnt down twice, most recently in 1985, afterwhich the store was rebuilt in its current location by then-storekeepers Ray & Jayne Kensington.

Whananaki General Store is now owned by Dallas & Donna Gurney and managed by Stacy Bryers & Jenny Attwood.