1973 headquarters christchurch new zealand area served nz aus products outdoor clothing mountaineering backpacks and camping equipment website macpac.co.nz macpac.com.au macpac wilderness equipment is a brand specialising in outdoor recreational equipment . it is best known for camping and travel equipment including backpacks sleeping bags and technical clothing . macpac was originally a new zealand company but is now 90 % owned by champ ventures since january 2016 with alex brandon as ceo . macpac was founded by bruce mcintrye in 1973 . macpac currently has two e commerce stores 27 new zealand and 17 australian retail stores . macpac s international distribution is through third party companies in europe united kingdom japan and chile . 1 contents 1 history 2 equipment 3 sale 4 references 5 external links history edit macpac s roots can be traced to new zealander bruce mcintyre who began designing his own outdoor gear after he left university aged 19 in 1973 . in 1975 he was involved with developing gear for a group of young men from the canterbury mountaineering club who were heading to the south american andes . the result was new zealand s first internal frame climbing pack the torre egger . mcintyre extended the torre egger concept to suit trampers and travellers as well . he focused on customer service and product quality . by 1978 sales were growing at 100 % a year and macpac was unable to keep up with demand . nevertheless mcintyre headed to australia to develop the company s first export market . in 1987 he began exporting to the netherlands and switzerland soon followed by germany and the uk . in 2003 macpac moved the majority of its production to asia shedding 150 jobs in christchurch . mcintyre the managing director at this time blamed a 40 % rise in the new zealand dollar and a slow down in international travel . in 2007 macpac under the mouton noir parent company assimilated the down apparel and equipment retailer fairydown . in september 2016 macpac signed a deal with amazon to enter the united states market . 2 3 equipment edit macpac designs and manufactures a range of outdoor equipment ranging from outdoor clothing backpacks sleeping bags to lightweight adventure and camping tents . macpac has been a major sponsor of the new zealand alpine team since 2013 and has a range of alpine specific clothing and packs 4 sale edit in january 2016 the company was sold to champ ventures . macpac products are no longer available through third party retailers and instead are now sold directly in macpac branded stores . references edit international & commercial sales . macpac nz . retrieved 26 september 2016 . heffernan madeleine 26 september 2016 . macpac s australian adventure . the sydney morning herald . retrieved 26 september 2016 . ryan holly 26 september 2016 . macpac growth outstripping kathmandu . new zealand herald . retrieved 26 september 2016 . the new zealand alpine team . macpac blog . macpac ltd. retrieved 26 september 2016 . external links edit media related to macpac company at wikimedia commons www.macpac.co.nz new zealand website www.macpac.com.au australian website blog.macpac.co.nz macpac official blog retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title macpac outdoors & oldid 741516083 categories companies based in christchurchcamping equipment manufacturersretail companies of new zealandretail companies of australiacompanies of new zealandoutdoor clothing brandshidden categories commons category without a link on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 28 september 2016 at 00 35 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view