Small town first resort for big business

Hamish Acland (32), founder of internationally successful merino underwear range Mons Royale....
Hamish Acland (32), founder of internationally successful merino underwear range Mons Royale. Photos by Lucy Ibbotson.
MONS ROYALE
"Businesses are not trying to make their money out of Wanaka; they're trying to make their money out of a much wider audience by being based in Wanaka," Hamish Acland (32), former professional freeskier and founder of merino underwear brand Mons Royale, explained.

Unlike in the northern hemisphere, where snow sports events were geographically "spread out", there was a "real magnification" of Wanaka in winter because of the concentration of high-profile events and its ability to attract the world's best freeskiers and snowboarders.

That gave businesses valuable opportunities for international exposure, Mr Acland said.

"There's huge advantages if you're trying to connect within action sports."

Several years ago, Mr Acland started preparing for life "after skiing" by looking at how his industry knowledge could translate into business.

"I got to hang out with start-up brands from the States and some pretty on-to-it cats from the likes of Oakley and Red Bull, so I just got a really good insight into how things work."

A business idea formed around merino clothing, and what it lacked.

"I was a big wearer of merino but I wouldn't wear it to the pub afterwards ... the idea was to create technical garments with merino that had style for all occasions."

Brighter colours, bolder graphics and multi-use design was the goal, and Mr Acland thought big from the outset.

"We've gone out with the objective to be a global brand, not to be a New Zealand brand."

He teamed up with graphic designer Hannah Aubrey and clothing designer Natalie Norman. His brother Ben came on board as general manager last year.

The Mons Royale range was launched in five New Zealand stores in June 2009 and its first international shipment went to Switzerland that October. Professional snow sports athletes worldwide loved it, including New Zealand freeskier Jossi Wells, who endorses the brand. It is now available in more than 300 stores worldwide.

Mons Royale moved its headquarters from a tiny bedroom to an office a few months ago.

Product destined for New Zealand and Australia is still sent from its Chinese manufacturer to a home garage for distribution, but Mr Acland said it would probably soon go to a warehouse.

There were no plans to move the business out of town, though.

"Wanaka is the home of the brand and we'd very much like to see it succeed here. I think in the future, as our capability grows, people are going to be really attracted to the idea of moving to Wanaka to work with a global brand."

Mr Acland hoped other entrepreneurs would see the potential for running global businesses from a resort town.

"I think towns like Wanaka that have a really small full-time population need to promote that people can come to live here, because the bigger that base is of businesses that are getting run out of Wanaka, the more successful the group is going to be."

Madwax snowboard and ski wax founder Brent Screen moved to Wanaka last year to help grow his...
Madwax snowboard and ski wax founder Brent Screen moved to Wanaka last year to help grow his business internationally.
MADWAX
Relocating to Wanaka from Wellington a year ago has "done wonders" for Brent Screen's snowboard and ski wax company Madwax, by providing a more direct line of contact with the industry.

"People see Wanaka as the kind of capital of the snow industry of New Zealand ... it's where it all happens," Mr Screen (38) said.

"You've got the mountains right here to experiment and do some research and development."

Mr Screen is a former snowboarder who spent about eight years filming and photographing snow sports. About eight years ago, during a conversation on a chairlift in Utah about a friend's unusually fast snowboard wax, Mr Screen coined the phrase "mad wax", sparking an idea that has evolved into an international success story.

He returned to New Zealand and contacted a "wax scientist" working for BP in Australia for tips on a formula. Then he and his brother Marty "just started mixing things up on the stove top".

"We had a few problems at first. It didn't work or was too hard or too soft or too sticky."

Confirmation of the perfect consistency came when Mr Screen and a friend tested the latest mix at Turoa skifield.

"We just took off. We looked at each other, laughing, and I was like 'Whoa, this is super fast', and that's when we knew 'let's go for it'."

With other brands already on the shelves, Madwax set out to differentiate itself.

Its scented, user-friendly bars of wax included stickers, waxing tips and qualities that made it faster and more durable than its competitors, Mr Screen said.

It is a favourite with several major New Zealand skifields and has about 85 stockists nationwide. After making its first significant international foray into Japan about a year ago, it is now being sold in France, Austria and Australia, and online in Europe.

The product has featured in goodie bags for the US Open and European Open snowboarding championships and, like Mons Royale, Madwax has partnered with the World Snowboard Tour to increase its profile.

Japan has "massive" potential and waxes are being developed specifically for Japanese conditions.

When not snowboarding or working as a DJ, Mr Screen does the marketing and production for Madwax. He makes all the products at home in his garage, but the "master plan" is to establish a factory and hire more staff.

However, the product will still be made locally.

"We thought about getting it made in China but I really want to keep control of it and I just really like the whole idea of making it out of Wanaka."

With help from Mr Screen's fiance, Miriam Chong-Nee, who looks after the company's accounts, and his brother,who oversees the legal aspects, the business was becoming increasingly profitable, although profits were reinvested to increase the international market. Mr Screen is in no hurry, though.

"I don't want to be working 18 to 20 hours a day on it. I want to go snowboarding every day and DJ-ing.

"I kind of want it all. Maybe in another three years, we'll just be doing this."

Skinalive sunscreens, created by Wanaka couple Charlotte (38) and Grant Lawrie (47), are popular...
Skinalive sunscreens, created by Wanaka couple Charlotte (38) and Grant Lawrie (47), are popular overseas, particularly with golfers on the US PGA Tour.
SKINALIVE
Grant (47) and Charlotte Lawrie (38) moved to Wanaka from the Auckland area five years ago, shortly after launching the first of their Skinalive range of sports-specific sunscreen products.

They too enjoy the benefits of running their business from the resort town.

"You actually get a lot more work done because you're not stuck in traffic all day," Mr Lawrie said.

Their business partners, Scott Skirrow and Shaun Coffey, have remained up north, but the Lawries have found no real challenges in relocating because, thanks to technology, "the world's a small place now".

However, given the large number of people running international businesses from Wanaka, establishing a local network of exporters would be beneficial, they said.

Skinalive's debut product, Surfersskin, was developed in the surfing community of Muriwai seven years ago, when Mrs Lawrie became inspired after a former partner's death from melanoma.

She met Mr Lawrie and the pair came up with a sunscreen that was tested on local surfers.

"It was trial and error. The first one we got, everyone was white," Mr Lawrie said. "But after about two years, we had something we were ready to go to the market with."

Snowskin and Golfersskin were introduced and, more recently, a generic sunscreen has been produced for early childhood centres. A marine-friendly sunscreen and Kidsskin range are being developed.

Like Mr Acland and Mr Screen, the Lawries' goal was to go global.

"We've always had that vision, that the brand's got to go that way, because the scope and the size of the markets internationally are huge compared to here," Mr Lawrie said.

The three sunscreens were thoroughly tested on New Zealand consumers "to iron out any glitches" before looking at offshore opportunities, Mrs Lawrie said.

Just over two years ago, a New Zealand distributor based in Europe launched the product in France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and North Africa. His golf-connected son then bought the product's distribution rights for the United States and, as a result, Golfersskin is finding favour on the fairways of the US PGA tour.

"Four of the top five [golf] players in the world use our product. We've got a big story starting to develop there."

Another coup was signing American professional snowboarder Travis Rice to endorse Snowskin, which is gaining a strong following overseas too.

The sunscreens have between 800 and 900 stockists throughout the United States and are sold in about 10 countries in Europe.

Based on the large orders coming in, the couple predict a significant increase in turnover in the next few years and hope for some "high-profile investments" to fund their growth and increase their share of the US market.

"We haven't even scratched the surface over there," Mrs Lawrie said.

- lucy.ibbotson@odt.co.nz

 

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