A truck hit a building in the main street of the Wairarapa town of Carterton, forcing the closure of State Highway 2.
Photos of the scene showed a shop awning and support posts smashed onto the footpath, and into the car parking area on the side of the road.
The crash happened about 6am on Wednesday.
State Highway 2 through the town was due to remain closed until the afternoon.
An engineer was assessing the damage to the building.