SUPERSPAR Newton Park regular Chantal Ashington is the proud owner of a brand-new limited-edition Hyundai Exter 1.2 Executive MT after her name was drawn in the SPAR Win a Car competition
Image: Supplied / Full Stop Communications.
For more than two decades, Chantal Ashington has faithfully done her grocery shopping at her local SUPERSPAR in Newton Park, Gqeberha.
This year, that loyalty delivered a life changing surprise in the form of a brand new limited edition vehicle.
The 42-year-old administrative clerk was recently handed the keys to a Hyundai Exter 1.2 Executive MT after winning SPAR's nationwide win a car competition, becoming one of only 50 customers across South Africa to receive the specially designed model featuring exclusive black interiors and matching rims.
The moment she found out she had won was almost too much to process.
Ashington admitted that she had to be upfront with her employer after receiving the life changing news.
"He told me, 'You have every right to feel the way you feel'," she recalled, explaining that her boss encouraged her to take some time to absorb the moment after she confessed she was struggling to concentrate at work.
Despite being a regular shopper for more than 20 years, Ashington said she never paid much attention to the retailer's promotional competitions.
"I never gave these campaigns much thought. Getting a good deal on groceries was motivation enough," she said.
That changed about three years ago when she began purchasing participating products and using her loyalty card to enter the competition.
Ashington brought husband Byron to tears when she told him that she had won a limited-edition Hyundai Exter 1.2 Executive MT.
Image: Supplied / Full Stop Communications.
"The two years prior I just felt like it wasn't going to be me because you never hear about or see the winners. But this year something said to me to have a go."
When she shared the news with her husband, Byron, the family's usual driver, his reaction surprised everyone.
"My husband never cries," she said. "But he did when I told him."
Ashington described the win as arriving at exactly the right moment for her family.
"Life had been hard for the family and winning the car was as if God was talking to them."
Although the family's current vehicle has served them well, she said owning a brand new car was something they had never imagined would happen.
Their 16-year-old daughter, Fallyn, has already started making plans for the family's first adventure in the new vehicle, lobbying for a "long trip" together.
For the team at SUPERSPAR Newton Park, the prize could not have gone to a more deserving recipient.
Senior manager Theresa Maree said Ashington was one of the store's most familiar faces.
"We see each other daily. She is one of our very regular shoppers. When they phoned me and I realised who it was, I was very excited for her."
The winning vehicle itself has also become a popular talking point.
According to Hyundai Port Elizabeth new vehicle sales manager David Elkonin, the Exter has quickly become one of the brand's standout performers.
"The model, which comes with a lengthy warranty and limited service plan, is one of the brand's top sellers and provides a beautiful, smooth drive," he said.
SPAR Eastern Cape operations manager Diether Zevenster said the competition reflected the retailer's commitment to rewarding the communities that support its stores.
"The fact that the car is going to one of our most loyal customers is such a value add," he said.
"That's our ethos, to add value to the lives of the community we serve."
Zevenster added that the Newton Park store has built its reputation on personal relationships, with the owner actively engaging with shoppers on the floor.
"That's the value," he said.
For Ashington, however, the biggest reward may not simply be driving away in a new car, but the reassurance that loyalty and perseverance can still produce extraordinary moments.
After years of quietly swiping her loyalty card while doing the weekly grocery run, she has become living proof that sometimes ordinary routines can lead to extraordinary rewards.
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