Perched at the top of the hill with easy access to Arkles Wharf, this area was a natural hub for the Peninsula's first general store, built by William Polkinghorne the younger, who also added a Post Office and a short-lived cheese factory (closed after just two years). The Polkinghorne family ran the store for many years before Ken and Edith Hopper took over in 1927. Read more on the Hopper Family ...

The store was a favourite with locals and the growing number of visitors arriving by ferry into Arkles Bay — Whangaparaoa had become a popular beach destination from the 1920s.

The original store was demolished in the mid-to-late 1980s as the area developed. Whangaparaoa Hall arrived in 1936, the first shops in the 1950s, and the Peninsula's first shopping centre opened in January 1960.