McKinlays Footwear was established in 1879 and has stayed in the same family since the first McKinlay came to the city from Scotland.
Co-owner Graeme McKinlay said the decision to sell came because he would be “hitting 65” soon, and his brother, co-owner David McKinlay, would not be far behind.
“We’re at the stage that we need to start making a plan, and obviously we need to find someone to take the business over.”
All of the younger generation of McKinlays had either already flown the nest and moved away from Dunedin or were planning to very soon, and were not too keen on being handed the reins.
“They’re scattered far and wide at the moment.”
The business had only been on the market for a short while, and there were no particularly strong emotions with letting go just yet, he said.
However, once things became more real and he was walking out the doors for the last time, that could definitely change.
“But, whether that’s this year or next year, we don’t know really.”
When Mr McKinlay’s children, nephews and nieces were growing up, they would spend their holidays in the factory doing the odd job.
He and his brother had the same experiences in childhood, as did their father before them and his grandfather before that.
In the 1990s, the business moved from Filluel St, Dunedin Central to the current Glasgow St address, and Mr McKinlay and his brother took the move as the opportunity to take over the business from their father.
“We sold that, bought this one, and had money left over and got a better building out of it — and now we’re still here.”
The business had been running “in one iteration or another” since 1879, but it was officially made McKinlay’s Footwear in the 1930s.
When World War 2 broke out was when business really started to boom.
Back then, the industry was protected because you could not import footwear into New Zealand without a licence.
That meant boots for soldiers were being made domestically.
“Then you had the Korean War and business boomed again.”
At one stage there were many family-owned businesses in Dunedin, but that number had dwindled, Mr McKinlay said.
McKinlays Footwear’s specialty in school shoes had helped it survive.
“You’re not having to change, produce new styles every year.”
In the early ’80s, there were as many as three shoe factories running out of the city, but McKinlay’s Footwear now stood as New Zealand’s only factory producing on a relatively large scale, he said.
“The goal is to hopefully just still keep it running out of Dunedin as well, with the new owners — it would be very hard to shift, because the staff are the key to the business.”
The asking price for the business is $450,000 plus stock, which is estimated to be between $150,000 and $450,000.
There is also an option to acquire the land and building alongside the business.
laine.priestley@odt.co.nz
