Can the Kathmandu brand bounce back?

Kathmandu founder Jan Cameron and Macpac investor has been out of the business for years, having sold her stake in the Macpac business to Australia-based Super Retail Group in 2018.

But the Macpac brand appears to be thriving and continues to gain market share while Kathmandu appears to have lost its way – Cameron sold the Kathmandu business in 2006.

One place where this is obvious is in store numbers; when Super Retail bought Macpac in April 2018, it had 52 stores and Kathmandu had 164.

Now, Macpac has 93 stores while Kathmandu has 160 – that's not even the low point because it's up from 155 through July 2022 and January 2023.

KMD Brands is planning to open another two Kathmandu stores before the financial year ends in July, but hasn't any plans beyond that, although it has a long-term target of about 200 stores.