New Zealand outdoorwear company Kathmandu is opening a new domestic flagship store in its home city of Christchurch.
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Located on the corner of Cashel and Colombo Streets, the Kathmandu store in Christchurch forms part of new retail precinct to soon be completed in the city’s CBD, which was devastated by an earthquake back in early 2011, according to local media reports.
Carter Group managing director Philip Carter purchased the retail block in 2016 and has since rebuilt the site, which previously housed the Pagoda Court restaurant, a pharmacy,
and fashion shops.
After the earthquake hit eight years ago, Carter went on to demolish that building, which had suffered earthquake damage, allowing for the new development to take place.
“This is a very visible and accessible site in the CBD which will showcase Kathmandu’s distinct product offering in our hometown,” Xavier Simonet, Kathmandu chief executive told local media in October, when news first broke of the new store location.
“Christchurch is a very special place for Kathmandu as we are headquartered here, our product design, engineering, and testing are all based here, and it’s where we opened our first New Zealand store,” Xavier continued.
The new flagship will stock Kathmandu’s full range of outdoorwear and hiking gear for both men and women. It will also serve as a collection point for used clothing from the public to be passed onto the Red Cross.
In the interim, Kathmandu has been operating a pop-up shop on the ground level of its Christchurch headquarters, located on Madras Street.
The Kiwi outdoorwear company, founded in the 1980s, will shutter the temporary store upon the new store opening.
In March, Kathmandu said net profit for the first-half fiscal 2019 increased by more than 13% on the back of growth in its recently acquired footwear brand Oboz, which offset soft Christmas season sales.
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The first-half period saw a 13.3 per cent increase in sales revenue to $232 million, with sales up by 2.7% in Australia, the company’s largest market. New Zealand sales were 1.9% below last year, it said at the time of reporting.