Triple production

Press, 29 May 1985, Page 33

Triple production

The new extensions at Macpac Wilderness Equipment’s manufacturing premises should triple the company’s production capacity, says its sales manager, Mr Geoff Gabites. "We’ve added about 740 sq m to the existing 560 sq m, so it will more than double the area,” Mr Gabites said.

The extra space will give the company a new warehouse, staff canteen, new offices and a showroom. There are also plans to install new machinery, such as programmable cutting machines and seam-sealers. The Minister of Tourism, Mr Moore, is to open the extensions this Friday. The company had "boomed” last year, when

staff numbers jumped from 28 to 83, so more space was obviously needed, Mr Gabites said.

Macpac Wilderness Equipment is a joint company which formed two years ago, when two Christchurch and Dunedin firms merged. Macpac started making packs and tents about 25 years ago in Christchurch, and the Wilderness Clothing Company operated in Dunedin.

“We got interested in each other in 1975, when Macpac sponsored a Canterbury Mountaineering Club expedition to Patagonia, giving it packs,” Mr Gabites said. “Wilderness Clothing put in clothing and tents.”

In 1981, the two companies formed a joint marketing organisation called Macpac Wilderness Equipment, both still operating in Dunedin and Christchurch. When they merged in 1983, everything was moved to Christchurch to centralise operations. “It made good sense to merge,” Mr Gabites said. “Macpac’s sales would peak in summer with packs and tents, and Wilderness in winter with clothing and sleeping bags.” “Together Macpac Wilderness Equipment is able to give an upmarket range of all outdoor gear — now we can entirely outfit an expedition with clothing, footwear, sleeping bags and tents,” Mr Gabites said.