Wednesday, March 30, 2022 Lifestyle Wairarapa Midweek
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NEW STORE NOW OPEN
319 ngaumutawa road, masterton next to TUMU ITM HUNTING • FISHING • DIVING • CAMPING • TRAMPING • CLOTHING
COME IN AND SEE US
MON-FRI 8.30AM-5.30PM � SAT 8.30AM-4.30PM � SUN 10AM-4PM 319 Ngaumutawa Road, Masterton
(next to TUMU ITM)
06 3788 723
wairarapa.store@huntingandfishing.co.nz
18 Wairarapa Midweek Wednesday, March 30, 2022
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NEW STORE NOW OPEN
From this: the old Queen Street store… To this: the new store on Ngaumutawa Road
The new premises is much larger and allows for better product positioning and display. More stock can also be carried allowing customers to have more choices and a better overall shopping experience. There’s free parking in the massive new carpark and room for those towing trailers and boats. Current Wairarapa Hunting & Fishing business partners Aaron Middleton and Greg McKinney are behind the move. They came together two years ago in March 2020 having already known each other from their time working for Shimano. Back in 2020 the store on Queen Street had well outgrown itself.
It was crammed. There was little space to move. The aisles were too narrow. Customers couldn’t see or ÿ nd products easily and sta˛ didn’t have the space to properly display anything. It was harder for customers like farmers to ÿ nd parking with their trailers and there was no free parking nearby. “The store itself was no longer supporting our business or customers the way we knew it should be”, says Greg. “We’d become a destination store, less reliant on passing foot tra° c from Queen Street”. Wanting to improve the customer experience is really what drove the move. “We rely so much on our locals,” says Aaron, “because they are our biggest supporters, and we need them in order to stay in business. We wanted to give them a better experience – one they deserved – so they’d be happier and in turn continue to support us or maybe even shop with us more
Co-owners Aaron Middleton & Greg McKinney
regularly if they enjoyed the improvement.” After months of looking for new sites, with little appeal (nothing was big enough) they opted for a new build on Masterton’s bypass road. “We think the location will suit a large percentage of our rural, farmer, and tradie base that use that route,” says Greg. “The new store increases in size from 660 square metres to 1180 square metres. It’s allowed us to carry a greater range of product lines and also introduce new brands like Cat, Swanndri, Salty Crew, and Desolve.” The nicer and brighter Wairarapa Hunting & Fishing store opened to the public on March 16
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HUNTING FISHING DIVING CAMPING TRAMPING CLOTHING
319 ngaumutawa road, masterton
Realising their customer vision Wairarapa Hunting & Fishing is on the move! After 21 years of being located at 99-101 Queen Street, the store has now moved into a brand-new purpose-built store. There’s no missing it at the new industrial park development, 319 Ngaumutawa Road next to TUMU ITM Masterton.
Wednesday, March 30, 2022 Wairarapa Midweek
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Strong Wairarapa links to H&F origins The Hunting & Fishing New Zealand retail cooperative boosts 40 stores nationwide, making it one of the largest outdoor equipment and clothing retailers in New Zealand. The ÿ rst H&F store was introduced in Palmerston North by founder Andy Tannock in 1986. His work as a ÿ shing and game ÿ eld o° cer would often take him to Wairarapa and he quickly developed an a° nity for all the outdoors activities the region o˛ ers with some of the country’s best ÿ shing, tramping, hunting and boating. Once he began setting up the H&F franchise it was a ‘no-brainer’ to select Masterton as the site
merged the two businesses into the one H&F store and moved it in 2001 to its recent 99-101 Queen Street location.˝ There it would remain until March 2022, when current co-owners Aaron Middleton and Greg McKinney decided it was time to for customers to enjoy the beneÿ ts of a bigger, newer premises.
for his second store in 1991. The initial shop was located next to A1 takeaways at the top end of Queen Street. Two years later he would sell it to Roger Smailes, a Wairarapa farmer nearing retirement and looking for an alternative career and income.˝ This allowed Andy to focus on establishing a truly nationwide franchise and to travel o˛ -shore in search of importing relationships with
key manufacturers.˝It led to H&F o˛ ering a wider range of outdoor gear than what competing stores had available, providing H&F a signiÿ cant competitive advantage allowing them to build a foothold in the marketplace and grow their brand presence. In time Roger went on to sell the store to John Maulder who also owned a Great Outdoors store. When that chain folded in the late 1990s John
To this day, Andy Tannock is still involved with H&F. He owns the Intellectual Property rights to the brand and is a director on the cooperative’s board. He also has his hand in some of the marketing, in particular the iconic Hunting & Fishing catalogue. “I still hunt in the Tararuas , enjoy the ÿ rst week of the duck hunting season at Lake Wairarapa, and get the odd dive in o˛ the coast”, he grins. What does he think of the new store on Ngaumutawa Road? “I’m both thrilled and proud that Wairarapa now has such a worldclass store.˝ I genuinely believe this is yet another asset to the region that does justice to the amazing outdoors opportunities on the Wairarapa doorstep. It’s something locals too can be very proud of!”˝
20 Wairarapa Midweek Wednesday, March 30, 2022
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NEW STORE NOW OPEN
Wednesday, March 30, 2022 Wairarapa Midweek
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HUNTING FISHING DIVING CAMPING TRAMPING CLOTHING
319 ngaumutawa road, masterton
Meet the people who can help you Store owners Aaron and Greg pride themselves on having a team who are experts in their ÿ elds. They want customers to get the right advice to enjoy the outdoors safely with products they know will meet their needs.
Shannon KESSLER
To ensure this they employ people with deep and varied knowledge of all things hunting and ÿ shing. People with passion, who love being outside and who are literally “out there doing it”. That technical expertise combined with real life outdoor experience and absolute passion is what they feel separates their store from similar outdoor recreational shops.
SHANNON SAYS: “I love the wide variety of gear we have available and sharing my passion with others. Customers will love the array of di° erent brands and everything that the new store o° ers. If I’m not at work I’m out hunting or ÿ shing.”
RETAIL SALES
EXPERTISE: Surfcasting, trout ÿ shing, hunting.
So, if you walk into Wairarapa H&F, who are some of the characters you’re likely to meet?
Bo ELLIOTT
Mark McKENZIE
Been working at Wairarapa Hunting & Fishing for 29 summers. She’s their longest serving sta° member!
EXPERTISE: All things ÿ rearms, optics, re-loading, ducks, deer, small game, trout ÿ shing.
RETAIL SALES
EXPERTISE: Clothing, camping, footwear, pack-ÿ tting, sleeping bags + some free diving. Just taken up saltwater ÿ shing! BO SAYS: “I love working at H&F. We greet our regular customers by name. People are loving the new store, it’s really cool to see their ‘oh wow!’ reactions.”
Carl HOLMES
INWARDS GOODS MANAGER
EXPERTISE: Deer hunting, ÿ shing.
RETAIL SALES
MARK SAYS: “H&F is a lifestyle for me not a job. We’re a one-stop shop for everything outdoors. If you love the great outdoors, you’ll absolutely love it here. Our shop has gotten bigger, but we haven’t lost our customer service. It’s the same friendly, helpful service you’ve always had. That’ll always stay the same.”
Blaze ˜MIKE° MURRAY
Kevin BUTLER
EXPERTISE: Super keen surfcaster & duck hunter, deer hunting and free diving.
EXPERTISE: Keen pig and deer hunter, free diving, saltwater ÿ shing, some surfcasting. Great on packs, sleeping bags and footwear.
RETAIL SALES
RETAIL SALES
BLAZE SAYS: “I love talking with customers because I get to talk about all the things I’m passionate about. Look at our new store. It’s no longer a dungeon. It’s absolutely incredible!”
KEVIN SAYS: “I love the whole process of hunting and gathering - getting a meal, eating it and providing for my family this way. All my hobbies are right here
at H&F. I love discussing them with customers and both of us learning, sharing ideas and taking something away to help hone our craft”.
Jared GOEDHART RETAIL SALES
EXPERTISE: Trout ÿ shing expert!!, general hunting, ÿ shing, tramping and outdoors.
JARED SAYS: “A trout ÿ shing expert is someone who can catch trout when no one else can! My colleagues here are fantastic to work with and real hard workers. Come talk to us, we have tips, ideas and new techniques that can often improve your catch ratios and in turn, your enjoyment”.
CARL SAYS: “I love getting technical advice from the sta° here to improve my outdoor hunting and ÿ shing hobbies. The new store is totally di° erent to our old store. It’s brighter. It’s bigger. I think customers will enjoy the shopping experience a lot more and love that there is more stock and more choice available to them.”
Jack BUCKLEY
RETAIL SALES ˛ PART TIME
EXPERTISE: Clay bird shooting, hunting, part-time surfcaster.
JACK SAYS: “I’m still at school, but love looking at all the new products I could be using. I shot a 13-point stag last year after tracking it when it came within 5 metres of me. It was incredible. I’m learning so much from the stories customers are sharing and am loving the friendships I’m building with them.”
Josh REDFERN˛OLSEN RETAIL SALES ˛ PART TIME
Expertise: Fishing. Josh says: “I’m still at school too. Greg and Aaron are teaching me a lot about ÿ shing. I’m really into it. I’m loving the new store and think customers will too. Come on down and see us, I’d love to be able to help you.”
Anna WISHNOWSKY˛GRAY
RETAIL SALES ˛ PART TIME
EXPERTISE: Camping and outdoors. ANNA SAYS: “The old store was cramped and there was little room to move. Our products were all crammed together. The new store is fantastic. The
layout is impressive, you can ÿ nd everything. One thing that hasn’t changed is our sta° . They still have expert product knowledge and you’ll ÿ nd people here who know what they’re talking about.”
Aaron
MIDDLETON CO˛OWNER
AARON SAYS: “Thank you to everyone for their support while we’ve been in business. Our locals are really in behind the shop and we want to acknowledge them because it couldn’t happen without them. We look forward to helping you continue to make fun outdoor memories.”
Greg McKINNEY CO˛OWNER
GREG SAYS: “Come and enjoy a better shopping experience. Customers are reporting they’ve bought stu° in our new store that they didn’t know we had, because they couldn’t ÿ nd it before in our old store! We appreciate any feedback, we’d love you to let us know what you think.”
LOADS OF CLOTHING OPTIONS
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Proud to have provided the flooring for Wairarapa Hunting & Fishing
Andrew Meade Flooring Ltd
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Phone 027 554 8033 | Email amfloor04@gmail.com
22 Wairarapa Midweek Wednesday, March 30, 2022
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NEW STORE NOW OPEN
Wednesday, March 30, 2022 Wairarapa Midweek
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HUNTING FISHING DIVING CAMPING TRAMPING CLOTHING
319 ngaumutawa road, masterton
Hunting & Fishing just the start… there’s more to come. Westwood Property Group are the developers behind the Hunting & Fishing site. Steve Pilbrow, Director of Westwood Property Group has a background in building and has been developing across Wairarapa for the past 12 years. The Westwood brand was established in Greytown with the development of the subdivision at Westwood Avenue, with developments like The Hub retail space and various housing projects in Greytown, Steve’s company, Westwood, has been steadily on the rise. He now has several large-scale developments running concurrently like Solway Country Estate, The Barracks and the massive Williams Estate - 200 lot residential subdivision.
Steve Pilbrow, Director of Westwood Property Group
He refers to the comprehensive industrial park development next to TUMU ITM, where Wairarapa Hunting & Fishing is located as the “Hunting and Fishing” site because they are the ÿ rst anchor tenant and the development has unfolded with them in mind. “They wanted great carparking facilities so it would be easy for their customers like farmers, tradies, and hunters
to be able to pull in and have easy access with their trailers,” says Steve, “so we made sure we did that for them and made the carpark as large and accessible as it could be. The Solway area of Masterton is also very convenient for residents coming from South Wairarapa.” Work on the H&F store began in June 2021 and went reasonably well, taking eight and half months to complete. There were challenges though. The Covid lockdown and the serious shortage of material did cause some delay. These were somewhat mitigated says Steve due to the close neighbourly relationship with TUMU ITM right next door. “We actually purchased the site from TUMU about 2 years ago,” says Steve, “as it was surplus to their needs. This was about the time Aaron and Greg (co-owners of Wairarapa Hunting & Fishing) were looking for a bigger site for their business. We had a great relationship with TUMU who were excellent at supplying materials and holding items for us so we were less impacted.” It meant the H&F store was able to be
TRADE STORE NOW OPEN
coming to Masterton as another signal. “What’s the quote?”, he muses, “a rising tide lifts all ships. The development at Ngaumutawa Road will create employment as new businesses set up in the area. In turn that leads to greater prosperity for everyone.” Construction is also about to begin at another development by Westwood; the Solway Trade Park which is on the other side of Ngaumutawa Road, directly opposite ITM.
completed in early March allowing them to move out of their Queen Street store over 13-15 March. Up to six other businesses will eventually share the developed site and Steve is on the lookout for suitable businesses that will complement the Hunting and Fishing proposition and add their mark to the exciting business precinct. So far he’s encouraged by the market signals he sees in the sector. “Demand from big business to be
in our district is strong,” he says, “it demonstrates the continued growth in housing and building that Masterton is experiencing, and it’s good to see businesses such as Hunting and Fishing investing in this growth and local business doing well and wanting to invest in themselves and their future.”
getting initiatives like the new H&F site over the line. “H&F are ‘big box retailers’. There was no other space in Masterton for a store of this size. They’re not a boutique proposition that could ÿ t easily on Queen Street. MDC understood this and it made delivering the build project a lot easier”.
Steve feels Masterton District Council recognise this growth and are making it easier for businesses too. He says their planning and engineering sta° have been very supportive and solution focused at
So what does the future bring? Steve believes it’s the people in Wairarapa who will beneÿ t. “H&F is just the start. More will follow”, says Steve, “attracted by the growth here”. He refers to Harvey Norman
OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT ON DISPLAY
Wairarapa Hunting & Fishing is now located at 319 Ngaumutawa Road, Masterton. OPEN HOURS: MONDAY - FRIDAY 8.30AM-5.30PM SATURDAY 8.30AM-4.30PM SUNDAY 10AM-4PM
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24 Wairarapa Midweek Wednesday, March 30, 2022
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HUNTING FISHING DIVING CAMPING TRAMPING CLOTHING
Before vs After Wairarapa Hunting & Fishing has gone through a transformation! The old Queen Street site was crammed and closed in. The aisles were narrow and there wasn’t a lot of space for customers to ÿ nd products let alone see them.
BEFORE
The new store is bigger and brighter with plenty of room for customers to browse and shop. Overall, a much more enjoyable customer experience!
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