Mitre 10 Whakatāne Win National Award

Some of the Mitre 10 Whakatāne team with their Garden Centre of the Year award.

Mitre 10 Whakatāne have placed first in an annual franchise-wide competition, winning Garden Centre of the Year at an awards evening held last week.

The event was held at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland on Friday 1st August. Upwards of 700 people are estimated to have been in attendance. Store owner Dean Edgerton says each year they go up against all of the Mitre 10 stores across the country. Mitre 10 Mega stores are entered in a separate category. Mr Edgerton said the team works hard every day but that this award is a great way to acknowledge the great work that they do, and that he's incredibly proud.

Sarah Fitzpatrick runs the garden centre alongside Andrea Steffert. Fitzpatrick said that the most important aspect of the garden centre is their loyal customer base. Store manager and ex store owner Matt Cutler said this Mitre 10 has some particular challenges. It's gone through multiple extensions over the years which has resulted in the garden centre being an odd shape. It's also built on top of a car park, and is southwest facing. As a result, he said that to take out an award like this at a national level is "amazing".

Mr Cutler echoed the team's appreciation for their Eastern Bay customers saying the biggest win comes from them.