The Tipping Point: 'Perfect storm' prompts bittersweet goodbye for outdoor store

Wednesday, 4 March 2026

Cactus Outdoor’s Yonni, Ben and Omri Kepes in the Christchurch store.

Hundreds of failed businesses shut their doors every year - but behind every closure are owners who had lofty dreams and ambitions. The Tipping Point tells their stories.

Ben Kepes is philosophical about having to shutter up his Wellington retail outlet, describing the decision to leave the city he had grown up in as bittersweet and emotionally difficult but “absolutely” the right thing to do business-wise.

Kepes launched Cactus Outdoor, a now Christchurch-based manufacturer of outdoor apparel and workwear, back in 1992.

He was an electrician at the time, but also a keen ultra-runner and passionate about nature and the outdoors.

“With the outdoor industry the story is always the same. Climbers, hikers, cyclists, people wanting to do something in the industry, we started up a brand, and it grew from there. We’re passionate about making equipment for us and our mates to use in the outdoors … it was both a lifestyle and a business decision for us. We’re probably a little bit unemployable in a normal job.”

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Cactus grew from initially just producing climbing gear to include a retail presence in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch. In 2019 the company bought Albion clothing, taking over its contracts to make uniforms for the fire, police and defence services. During Covid it segued into also making masks. Kepes’ two adult sons now work alongside him.

In 2024, after almost six years, Cactus pulled the plug on Wellington. While conceding there were some site-specific challenges ‒ the Thorndon Quay site wasn’t a “fantastic location” in terms of retail and the building had some earthquake-related issues ‒ongoing infrastructure disruptions and the post-Covid economic slowdown combined to produce a 'perfect storm'.

'I don’t blame any one thing,“ Kepes said. ”Honestly after 33 years business is always hard, it’s just the degrees of hard that changes. Retail is really tough, and you need lots of things to align. When you have two or three things that are sub-optimal then that can be enough [to force a closure].

“Wellington has had a hard time in the past few years.The public sector cuts, the Thorndon road works, a sort of general economic malaise.The most impactful things for us were the economic conditions in Wellington and the issues around the cycle lanes, and I’m an advocate for cycle lanes. It just took years and years and years …”

While the decision to leave the capital was bittersweet ‒ Wellington is tūrangawaewae ‒ and emotionally difficult it was the “absolute right business decision” given the circumstances, he said.

Retail and hospitality, like other business, had a life cycle. The market dictated much of that, Kepes said, pointing out that each time he visited Wellington some venues were “pumping”, others not so much.

“The public are a lot more discerning now. In terms of what should be done there’s nothing policymakers can or should do.

“While it would have been nice to keep Wellington open, business decisions never happen totally in isolation. I have an obligation beyond what is nice.I feel an obligation to our customers, to our staff, and to my sons, to pass something on. I really feel that I’m kaitiaki over Cactus, that I have to guard it and protect it so we can grow and be sustainable and ensure that the next generation, and the one after that is still making awesome products.”