Avondale RSA shuts bar as rising costs end decades-old tradition
An Auckland RSA will pull its last pint this month after mounting financial losses forced the closure of its bar.
The Avondale Returned Services Association Incorporated (AVRSA) confirmed its Rosebank Rd bar will close on July 31 after a “sustained review” of the club’s finances.
A detailed assessment supported by independent advice found the bar had failed to cover its own costs in recent years.
In the year to March 2025, the bar generated sales of $242,790 but incurred wage expenses of $174,458 – before accounting for the cost of stock and overheads.
The club’s net deficit for the same year was $476,229, a position the executive said could not continue.
Having now surrendered the bar’s gaming licence, a revenue stream that made the club about $3.65 million between 2016 and 2025, there is little capacity to absorb more losses.
AVRSA president Gaye Mantell said the decision had not been easy but was the responsible one.
“Every dollar spent propping up a loss-making bar is a dollar taken from the reserves our founding members built for the welfare of veterans.
“We owe it to them, and to the members who rely on this club, to face the numbers honestly rather than let the position keep eroding.”
AVRSA said the closure did not mark the end of the club but a return to its founding purpose of supporting veterans, honouring service and serving the local community.
It said the association had become increasingly focused on operating a bar, rather than using it to support those objectives, and now intended to rebuild on a financially sustainable footing.
The announcement comes amid wider concerns about the financial sustainability of RSAs across New Zealand.
In 2023, the incoming RSA national chairman Martyn Dunne estimated more than $100m in veteran support funding was being lost to struggling clubs.
Many have gone under in the years since, while others have restructured or found non-traditional ways of staying afloat.
Earlier this year, the Herald uncovered that the Papanui RSA had loaned itself $300,000 in poppy collection donation money to cover costs.
The hospitality model has increasingly come under scrutiny, with Dunne describing the traditional RSA model as “hanging on to the past”.
“[We need] to make sure we preserve our equity in the assets we’ve got and put it to best use, rather than a booze hall or fellowship centre or whatever you want to call it.”
Veteran Marcus Amosa told the Herald last month the Avondale RSA no longer felt like a place returned service people belonged, echoing concerns about the bar-centric focus.
Members will elect a new executive committee at the association’s annual general meeting on July 19, with the incoming leadership tasked with guiding the club through its next phase.
Amosa previously announced his plans to seek a place on the club’s executive committee as part of a push to return the RSA’s focus to veteran welfare and community service.