561 Remuera Road, Remuera: Formerly Harvey Furnishings

You may have noticed the transformation underway of the building at 561 Remuera Road on the corner with Minto Road, Remuera. The shops that were Harvey Furnishings are to become a Four Square supermarket.

History of 561 Remuera Road
The building was first known as Thompson’s Building when it was built in 1917 as a single storey structure for fruiterer Arthur Herbert Thompson. The building comprised two shops and four residential rooms and was occupied by Thompson until the early 1920s. The shops were initially occupied by grocers and a stationer. Present day 561 Remuera Road comprises two parts of Lot 31 and two buildings (middle (1922) and corner (1917)) the westernmost portion was once 555-557 and the corner portion 559-561 Remuera Road.

The 1920s saw a total of 30 shops (some merged) built in Upland Village, often with residential accommodation.

1922 saw the construction of a two-storey brick building comprising two shops and a dwelling for part of Lot 31, formerly no. 555, undertaken by contractor, C. H. Cox for Mr Frederick Stubbs at a cost of ￡1,415. In 1922-3, the property was leased in June for a term of five years to John Hunter. The lease was later transferred to grocer, Sam Bromiley in September, and then to John Ernest DeLuca in December. In 1924 the lease of the middle portion was transferred to stationer, Thomas Robert Gages.  Owner Frederick Stubbs occupied the property periodically over the following years.

Developments by Year
1925 Proposed brick addition to the rear of the existing storeroom on the corner lot, undertaken for J. E. DeLuca.

1933 Grocer, William Meikle occupied the middle portion for a number of years.

1946 The shop was in use as a bootmakers during the mid-1940s.

1956 The middle portion of Lot 31 was transferred to Evelyn Mary Ryan.

1963 This portion of the property was leased to Marriotts Stores Limited and renewed for a further five years in 1968. Marriotts were a chain of grocery stores in Auckland and Hamilton. The 14 stores taken over by L.D. Nathan Ltd in 1933 became Marriott Stores Ltd.

Harvey Furnishings
One of the more prominent retailers introduced to Upland Village during the 1980s was Harvey Furnishings, whose local ‘empire’ extended over a number of neighbouring shops, including the two buildings at present-day 561 Remuera Road. The 1980s saw substantial development of the site by the Harveys with extensions added to the rear of both buildings to accommodate their growing operations.

1981 The middle portion of the lot was transferred to company director, Maxwell Leslie George Harvey. An undivided one half share was transferred to Janice Patricia Harvey on 1984.

1986 Construction of a single-storey (with mezzanine) addition to the rear of 555 Remuera Road for Harvey Furnishings.

1987 Construction of a two-storey addition to the rear of the corner property for Harvey Furnishings, to serve as additional floor area for the shop and offices.

1992 Proposed removal of partitions and the installation of a new roof, wall and stairs to the front portion of 555 Remuera Road.

1993 Proposed new roof and shop front.

1995 The corner portion of the lot was transferred to company directors, Maxwell Leslie George Harvey and Janice Patricia Harvey.

The Harveys owned 6 shops across New Zealand and sold the company in 2019 to Wade Glass and Paul Southam who closed the Remuera shop. The brand name Harveys was subsequently retained for 10 shops across New Zealand. [1]

In 2020 Auckland Council adopted Plan Change 31 to add 12 shop sites to the Upland Village Historic Heritage Area. 561 Remuera Road was deemed to be ‘non-contributing’ due to the large additions to the rear and changes to the shop fronts and windows which have compromised their physical contribution to the HHA. [2]

In 2021 the site is being reconstructed to be a supermarket, run by Four Square. Four Square is a chain of supermarkets in New Zealand that was founded by John Heaton Barker in 1924. It has 240 stores throughout New Zealand, mostly in small towns. It is owned by Foodstuffs and includes New World and Pak’n Save supermarkets. [3]

561 Remuera Road is a high profile site and has been a supermarket in the 1920s and 1960s, now to be resurrected in the 2020s.