Franchise New Zealand | Summer 2026 | Year 34 Issue 04
32
Pack & Send’s Riccarton franchisee Brad McFarlane recently took home the
hat-trick of Pack & Send’s Franchisee of the Year, the Metro Sales award and
Marketing award. “I couldn’t wait to leave the presentation event to share this
success with my incredible team members,” he grins.
“It was a huge honour to be recognised not just for running a profitable
store but also for how we’ve grown and operated as a team over the past
two years. That meant a lot to me and to Blain O’Loughlin, our business
development manager, our customer service manager Emily Houben, and
George Feast, our youngest staff member in customer service.”
When Brad purchased Pack & Send Riccarton in September 2023 he was
not just stepping into a successful business – he was stepping into history.
Opened in 2008, Riccarton was New Zealand’s very first Pack & Send service
centre. An attached warehouse provides an additional third party logistics
(3PL) income stream through storing, packing and distribution for customers.
“I didn’t want to change what was working,” says Brad modestly, “I wanted to
elevate it. I lived in Nelson at the time, so that meant hiring experienced staff
who knew the store and brand inside out. I was lucky to be able to bring in
team members who had already worked at Riccarton as well as others who
had worked with the Pack & Send head office. This gave me more than a
trusted operational base while I ran things remotely, it gave me an award-
winning team.”
A life in business
“I learnt my own work ethic at my dad’s Dunedin garage, pumping gas after
school and during holidays. I left school at 17 wanting to own a business
and took a pizza delivery job as a starting point. I didn’t buy that business,
but it did give me bad driving habits,” confesses Brad. “At 23, I moved to
Christchurch and bought my first gas station franchise business. I further
invested in that business by purchasing the building it operated out of – a
strategy I repeated over the next 20 years.
“We left Christchurch for a few years so my teenaged son Enzo could be
closer to family in Nelson. Having successfully run a Christchurch gas station
from Nelson, I was not put off doing the same thing with Pack & Send
Riccarton when the opportunity fell across my desk.
“Although not actively looking for change, I was lucky to have some inside
knowledge as a customer and through a friendship with a former Pack &
Send executive. Freight and logistics were something I was interested in, too.”
These guys really know what to do
Brad’s Pack & Send customer experience began with shipping a large oven
from a café he owned in Nelson. Impressed with how well they’d handled
that, he next called on Pack & Send to deliver home some original art
purchased in Auckland.
“It wasn’t hugely expensive, but I was stressed about it arriving damage-free.
Unpacking the painting, my first thought was, ‘These guys really know what
to do’. Now I’m one of these guys, but it’s my staff who really know packaging.
My focus is on marketing and growing the business. Whether it’s testing new
ad channels, refining the customer experience or exploring B2B partnerships
– we keep experimenting. That’s how we find our edge for sending
anything, anywhere.”
There are Pack & Send opportunities throughout the country and as Brad has
shown, even if you are taking over an already successful store, there’s always
room to improve the business.
Finally, wise words from Brad, “Look at what you can modernise, measure
and multiply. Build a team you
can trust. And if you’re thinking
of stepping back or managing
remotely, it can work, but only
if your franchisor support is
excellent, you can rely on other
franchisees putting you right,
and your systems and people
are solid – like my
award-winning team.”
Ex-customer turned franchisee and his
team take Pack & Send Riccarton to new
heights of success
WINNING
TEAM
Opportunity: Retail
PACK & SEND
www.packsend.co.nz
Contact
Maria Ilicheva
0061 422 324 542
maria.ilicheva@packsend.com.au
Advertiser Info
Brad McFarlane