Business always has customers in its sights
IT’S hardly surprising that Scott Kunac’s favourite pastimes are hunting and fishing.
He does, after all, own Dunedin Hunting and Fishing which recently moved to new premises in Crawford St.
‘‘It has been my lifelong interest. It’s been a pleasure to have an occupation that’s part of that. It’s just a passion, really. If you’re interested in something and you like doing it, it’s not hard work,’’ Mr Kunac (53) reflected.
It is a big business, now employing 13 staff and in premises two and ahalf times the size of the previous store in George St, North Dunedin.
Not a bad effort for a man who left school halfway through year 12, when his father spied a newspaper advertisement for a job in a Rotorua sports shop. He has been in the trade ever since.
During his OE with his wife Desiree, Mr Kunac spent several years working in a gun shop in London.
Returning to New Zealand, he worked in Rotorua for Kilwell, a longestablished company which manufactured fishing tackle and imported firearms.
After about three years, the opportunity arose in 1994 to buy Allan Millar Gunsmith in Dunedin and the couple decided to move south.
It was a big move. His wife had never been to Dunedin, they had to sell their house in Rotorua and rent in the southern city, they did not know anybody in Dunedin and they had never owned a business.
But there was an opportunity to take on a business and ‘‘give it a kick in the guts’’. Mrs Kunac, now Dr Kunac, was a pharmacist and keen to be involved with the university.
She has since completed her PhD and works for the university as a medical assessor in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine.
‘‘At the end of the day, for her it was a good move and for me a good move. We wouldn’t move back north if you paid us,’’ Mr Kunac said.
As soon as they bought the business, they joined Hunting and Fishing New Zealand. At that stage, there were only five or six stores in the franchise. Now there are 37.
Originally, they had a business partner whom they bought out after a few years. Changing the name to Allan Millar’s Hunting and Fishing, the business remained in the small store in Manse St for about 10 years before moving to George St for 12 years.
They outgrew that shop about three years ago and it was nice to now finally have some space, Mr Kunac said.
The move itself was quite daunting, as he likened it to ‘‘moving your house times 20’’. The stock was moved within three hours, with the assistance of 50 helpers.
The big job started at the new store, setting out more than 100,000 stock items and displaying them.
More space meant they had been able to increase their range of footwear and clothing and also have better displays.
‘‘It allows us to have most things on display rather than stacked away,’’ he said.
There was a impressive display of animal heads around the walls, many of which belonged to customers, whose wives would not allow them to hang them in their houses.
The new store was a much better environment to work in and it was also a very visible spot, with excellent car parking.
‘‘I think it’s the best location in Dunedin.’’
The move had been a substantial investment, not only in monetary terms but also in personnel, as staff members had increased by 30%.
‘‘I’m not going to move again,’’ Mr Kunac said, laughing. The building was ‘‘big enough for what we want to do’’.
‘‘I can see us being here for a long time.’’
Sevendaysaweek trading was something that they also had to do now they were in the big box store area, which had been a big change from six days.
That put pressure on staffing, particularly when most were hunting and fishing enthusiasts and wanted to do that at weekends, he said.
Owning a business had been a big learning curve and Mr Kunac attributed its success to being conscientious, trying to ensure all customers were happy, and honesty, integrity and hard work.
It was also about having a passion for hunting and fishing. Mr Kunac particularly enjoyed pig hunting around Otago and fishing with teenage son Daniel.
‘‘He just loves hunting and fishing, as well. I haven’t forced him into it, he just wants to do it, so that’s pretty cool.’’
As well as the thrill of seeing his son shoot his first deer and catch his first fish, his other highlights were ‘‘just spending time with great mates’’.
‘‘Every time we go together, it doesn’t matter what we do, we just have a good time. That’s probably the most enjoyable thing to do.’’
Mr Kunac resigned this year as chairman of Hunting and Fishing New Zealand, having been on the board for more than 20 years, saying he wanted to have some more time to ensure the store move went well.
Hunting and Fishing had a very good head office structure that supported the stores. Its catalogue, sent to more than 80,000 customers, was the most read sporting publication in New Zealand, he said.
There were other stores expanding to bigger premises and ‘‘one or two’’ new stores planned to open within the next 12 months.
A big change over the years had been the arrival of online shopping. Hunting and Fishing’s biggest competitors were online, both nationally and overseas.
So it was about providing good service to customers so they kept coming back. Prices also had to be ‘‘pretty competitive’’.
Most of their staff were longserving. Four had been there for more than 10 years and if someone came in looking for advice, or wanting to know how to do something, that could not be done over the internet, he said.
There was real growth in both camping and hunting, with ‘‘so many animals around days’’.
There were more deer around than Mr Kunac had ever seen, making it easy for firsttime hunters to be successful.
Hunting equipment had changed so much over the years. In the old days, they would put on their old clothes and gone hunting. Now it was a gear-intensive sport and the technical aspects of the new equipment made it more comfortable and safe.
The electronic age had come to hunting, whether it was locator beacons, GPS units or dog tracking electronics.
Before duck shooting season, there was an influx of customers getting batteries for their electronic duck decoys.
The best part of the job was when a customer came in, who had not been hunting or fishing, to buy a rifle or a rod and get some advice.
When they came back, they were so excited because they had shot their first deer or caught their first fish. Now they were also getting generations of customers.
Business was going well but that did not mean ‘‘just sit on your hands and wait for it’’, Mr Kunac said.
Challenges included making sure customers were well looked after, looking after staff well ‘‘and to probably lead by example as well’’, he said.
The business was involved in a lot of community events, sponsored various hunting and fishing competitions and ran educational classes.
‘‘You’re just got to make things keep happening. If you sat back, people would overtake you,’’ he said.
these
❛It has been my lifelong interest. It’s been a
pleasure to have an occupation that’s part of that❜
— Scott Kunac