The countdown is now on for Bethlehem Town Centre manager Andrew Wadsworth.

In a little under three weeks, the upgrade of the town centre will be done and dusted, with Andrew saying shoppers will soon 'be absolutely spoiled for choice and convenience”.

Retail giant Kmart is one of the new additions to the Bethlehem Town Centre and will be opening for business on March 24. Photos: Tracy Hardy.

Once completed, 50 stores covering 20,000m2 will be based at the centre, including new anchor tenant Kmart which opens for business on March 24.

A total of 2,000m2 has been added to the centre's footprint as part of the upgrade, which has involved relocating some existing tenants, demolition of buildings, restructuring of car parks and roads, plus the construction of the new Kmart building.

Andrew says the redevelopment has gone extremely well and everything is on track for the grand reveal later this month.

'Since the project began in April 2015, the centre has changed shape on a weekly basis, and now that we are less than three weeks out from completion I just can't wait.

'Delivering a project like this within a live retail shopping environment has its challenges and for that reason we would like to than our retailers and customers for their patience and understanding.”

Buildings have been demolished and constructed as part of the Bethlehem Town Centre's upgrade.

Along with Kmart, other new additions to the town centre includes Pita Pit, Tank and Turkish to Go which have already opened, plus Omni Tech and Hardy's - which are both opening soon.

With the majority of work completed, all that remains is the construction of new car park areas and the road through to the Kmart building.

While the Bethlehem Town Centre has evolved much over the last couple of years, Andrew describes the arrival of Kmart as 'the icing on the cake”.

'The new Kmart store will provide Kmart's full range in their newly formatted and designed store and further enhance the Centre as a convenient shopping destination west of Tauranga's CBD.

'Based on this, the introduction of Kmart will significantly increase the retail offering for our customers. So in short – being excited is an understatement,” says Andrew.

Tauranga MP Simon Bridges checking out the new Pita Pit which opened at the Bethlehem Town Centre a fortnight ago.