Company History

Kathmandu opened its first store in 1987 and through the 1990s remained a small specialist outdoor retailer, manufacturing many of its own products. During the 1990s, Kathmandu scaled back its manufacturing operations and shifted to an offshore sourcing model. By 2002, Kathmandu no longer manufactured any products in-house. The shift to offshore manufacturing enabled Kathmandu to access quality products at a lower cost which, combined with the Company’s in-house design process and Company-operated retail distribution network, has helped generate its strong margins.

In 2003/2004, Kathmandu commenced its UK initiative (where it now has six stores) as well as launching basecamp^® in New Zealand – the Company’s dedicated family camping equipment offering.

In 2006, Kathmandu was acquired by a consortium of private equity funds and subsequently a new management team was introduced.

In 2009 Kathmandu listed on the ASX and NZX, and is currently indexed in the ASX300 and NZX50. From 2009 onwards Kathmandu has invested heavily in its business platform, including staff, IT infrastructure and distribution capacity, and its store footprint has grown from 46 stores in FY2006 to 110 stores at 31 July 2011.

Initiatives and major investments over this period include:

• establishing a new Melbourne distribution centre
• establishing a larger Christchurch support office and
• launching an enhanced website with online transactional capabilities;
• listing on both the ASX and NZX, associated with restructured (and reduced) debt facility to enable effective funding of future growth strategies
• upgraded ERP system and new warehouse management system

Future planned investment includes:

• establishing a larger Melbourne support office
• developing a new Christchurch distribution centre