Countdown Auckland Metro

This appears to be one of the more busy locations, as it’s between SkyCity and Queens St. But for the most part it serves it purpose. It’s pretty much like an expanded version of a convenience store.
You can get every type of meat, tons of sausage variety, plenty of cheeses to choose from. Chips galore, pasta, canned tuna, you name it and they’ve probably got it. They’ve got a deli section, a small bakery, and fresh fruit and vegetables.
Things worth buying here: The lamb sausage, Bluebird Chicken potato chips, and one of the best chocolate milks ever made, the Puhoi Valley Real Belgian Chocolate Milk. So freakin’ good, you gotta try it! They’ve even got different KitKats, and a wide variety of Whitman’s chocolates to give away as souvenirs.
Other than that, the prices seem reasonable, but I’d rather get my sweets and alcohol over at a New World location.

Always veeery busy. But that’s how it is in a central supermarket. And fortunately there are besides the normal cashiers mans self checkout stations. So you never have to wait that long as you expect when you first see the line.
But let’s get serious, this supermarket got everything you can need. So I can’t see any negatives.

Every time I shop at this supermarket — it’s cray cray (crazy busy)!!! All the urban dwellers use this supermarket I think, as it has more (perceived) discounted product than New World Metro, which is a couple of block away. It stocks everything really, in smaller quantities. The hot chicken never looks desirable; the bread section is scarce with temptation. I always battle with the people in the aisles especially in the dairy section! You almost need to queue to get to the cheese & yoghurt! The wine selection is pretty good, normally get a bottle of choice. They often have all there ‘specials’ at the entrance & exit: nearly expired snack chocolate bars for $ 1, 2 packets of biscuits for $ 5, orange juice for $ 3 etc. When it comes to pay, it feels like a ‘customs hall’ with a staff member yelling out ‘Next’ — it is a spectacle. However they are efficient with processing the large amounts of people waiting to pay, I give them that! Not a great (grocery) shopping experience however if you prepare & know where everything is, it will be less stressful!

Convenient, but check the expiry of the goods you’re buying. The cheese I bought was out of date by 7 days!
There were some «youths» mucking about in the aisles. They went through the self checkouts with just a bottle of soda and the alarm went off without anyone questioning them on their exit — you’d have to wonder.

I don’t blame the staff, there’s one person assigned to crowd control the long queues and fix the many technical bagging/​scanning problems. You all know what management are thinking putting on a skeleton staff during busy periods and no security guards — $$$ bottom line.
I’d much prefer the Countdown on Quay street, or New World on Queen St.

One of only 2 decent sized supermarket in the CBD. This Countdown is generally well stocked and has pretty much everything bigger Countdowns have. It seems to always be busy though (blame the convenient location!) so these days I really try to avoid going there (especially lunch times or between 5 and 8pm). Staff seems always pleasant despite the crowds so kudos to them!

Perfect for when you just need a few things, Countdown Auckland Metro is easy to get to in your lunch break. They have lots of self check outs, as well as some regular checkouts. They also have these snazzy, larger green, basket trolleys (great description), which people drag around after themselves.
If you do visit in your lunch break, expect long queues, but these move pretty quickly as most people aren’t buying much. There is also a Lotto outlet and even the option to purchase a barista made coffee.
While somewhat restricted due to its size, this mini Countdown has most things, including meat and vegetables (often I’ve noticed the meat is on sale, so you might get some bargain items for your dinner).