From hiking gear to hard-to-find utilitarian accessories from around the world, it’s the end of an era for another one of the last remaining vestiges on “the strip”.
The changes we’ve seen along one of New Zealand’s most prolific and notorious CBD roads, Karangahape Road, are well documented.
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These days, business owners on Karangahape Road say they don’t go a day without being robbed or harassed, including the director of one of the strip’s popular retail destinations, the Army and Outdoors store at number 326, which opened in January 2004.
Jason Robinson has for the past decade maintained the speciality goods retail destination both as a brick-and-mortar operation with nine staff, and its growing online customer base.
However, the time felt right for Jason to shut up shop, citing various reasons, including the growing shift of his customers towards online shopping both locally and internationally; a lack of decent parking options driven by Auckland Transport’s agenda for cycleways and public transport; a decrease in consumer discretionary spending; and the rise in crime and attacks on staff members.
Formerly known as Kiwi Disposals, the company has been around for more than 30 years, transitioning from a small warehouse taking wholesale orders to now operating two retail stores (Auckland and Christchurch). Now its focus will be on wrapping up business at the end of this month and focusing on its e-commerce offering and its Christchurch distribution and HQ. In 2011, its second store on Colombo Street in Christchurch was closed due to the earthquakes.
Part of the store’s success is tapping into a diverse customer base who shopped there for its unique offering — from style-savvy thrifters looking for a bomber jacket or hard-to-find naval peacoat to film-makers sourcing props. Several of the store’s unique utilitarian offerings have made their way into several shoots for Viva over the years.
“I’ve had this business for 10 years, and before that, there was another owner who had it for 10 years. Everyone knows it’s an iconic part of K Rd. We provide a unique experience you don’t get anywhere else and you get to shop and see firsthand items from all over the world you won’t find in a regular store, let alone a specialist store like ours,” says Jason.
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Advertise with NZME.But a recent spate of attacks along K Rd has meant several business owners have had to strongly consider their safety.
“I took over the business around 2014-2015 and it was a very different time then to what it is now,” explains Jason.
“There was more of an unspoken understanding between businesses and the homeless, we could co-exist and have an equilibrium. There was some trouble then but it was easier to manage back then. K Rd has always been a colourful place to operate — we knew this. This is what gives it its personality and character and why it’s one of the most iconic roads in New Zealand.
“Over the past few years, this has changed dramatically. Crimes against businesses have surged beyond belief. We get shoplifting attempts almost every day now. Sure we can catch most of them, but the impact on our losses is significant. We’re at the point where a staff member is now essentially stationed at the front door monitoring who is coming in, and alerting our neighbours via the K Road Business Association WhatsApp channel. The police do a good job but it’s a much wider systemic problem to do with the court system. It’s too slow to process.”
Like other iconic K Rd closures — decades-old Auckland menswear retailer Leo O’Malley shut up shop in 2019 after 84 years in business and The Caker’s Jordan Rondel closed her cake shop after 10 years last year — Jason’s focus is now on ensuring the community he’s built and maintained through Army and Outdoors is still taken care of via its online store.
“Online has been growing quite nicely for us. Fifty per cent of our orders are shipped overseas, particularly in the US and Australia. We always had a good strategy to grow online because we compete not just in New Zealand, but also around the world. We had seen that momentum shift to online even before Covid, but Covid just accelerated it.
“Our distribution centre in Christchurch is well-equipped to send out orders quickly, and we have a great partnership with NZ Post which allows us to service customers efficiently wherever they are, so this is one great positive to focus on with the business for the future.”
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