Kathmandu taps David Kirk as chairman

Former All Black captain David Kirk has been named the new chairman of Kathmandu. Photo / APN

David Kirk, who has been appointed chairman of outdoor equipment and apparel retailer Kathmandu today, says the company has done well in addressing the shift to online retailing and the internet offers the firm many opportunities for future growth.

"It's early days, but [Kathmandu's] online sales are growing strongly, off a relatively low base," says the 53-year-old former All Black captain, who also heads the board of online auction website Trade Me.

Kirk joined Kathmandu's board as a non-executive director in November and replaces John Harvey, who had been acting chairman since March following the sudden death of former chairman James Strong.

Harvey told shareholders at the company's November annual meeting the Kirk would likely take over as chairman.

Kathmandu shares, which have gained 38 per cent in the last year, were unchanged at $3.14 just after 1pm.

Announcing its full-year result in September, Kathmandu said online revenue had risen 55 per cent to reach more than 4 per cent of total sales.

The retailer also launched a new mobile website late last year, which it said would be more convenient for customers browsing its online store on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers.

Kathmandu products have also become available in the United Kingdom through the website of online retail giant Amazon.

"I think the fundamental strategy of having your own website but also going through a range of marketplace websites [like Amazon] is a good one and from what I see so far the company has executed well on what are really quite big IT investment programmes required to get on to all of these platforms and give consumers a really good experience," Sydney-based Kirk said.

He said online also provided Kathmandu with opportunities to expand, through international shipping, into new markets such as Japan and the United States where it does not currently operate bricks-and-mortar stores.

"The board believes ... that Kathmandu can be a successful global brand," Kirk said. "In order to take Kathmandu to the world we clearly need to continue to invest in the brand and we need to look carefully at what combination of physical presence in stores and online presence optimises the growth in return for shareholders in that process of growing the brand globally."

He said it was also likely that Kathmandu would open bricks-and-mortar stores in markets outside of the countries it currently operates physical sites in - New Zealand, Australia and the UK.