Miles Wilson’s been a highly-regarded sports apparel store owner since 1997, however he never set out to be a retailer.
Now 76, he grew up in a Dunedin state house, went to Otago Boys’ High, where he learnt self-discipline, then started work as a lowly merchandiser at Cadbury — "I couldn’t afford to go to university".
Over 17 years, he worked his way up to becoming marketing director, and Cadbury even sent him to Chicago to do a business degree.
Miles says he could have stayed, but instead took a risk and joined Auckland’s corporate world.
He became GM sales and marketing for Fonterra’s proprietary brands, like Anchor, then GM marketing for Tourism New Zealand, then GM marketing for SkyCity.
"I spent about 15 years in Auckland doing all that and I was starting to hit the wall, to be honest.
"I was living in a really nice part of Auckland, and I never saw it."
Backtrack to ’83, when he was still in Dunedin, he and his then-wife used to holiday in Queenstown at weekends.
Sick of staying in motels, he was driven around looking at real estate by the late Betty Brown, who, on the way to Arrowtown, ducked down Littles Rd — "a horrible old dusty road at the time" — to show him a steep, broom-covered, four-hectare section.
"I literally said to Betty, ‘I don’t want to be a farmer, I’m not interested in land’.
"However, looking down to the Shotover River and up to Coronet Peak, I thought, ‘oh my God, this is unbelievable’."
That night he rang his agent and agreed to pay $88,000 after she gave him a $2000 discount — four years later he put a house on it.
Fast-forward to 1996, Miles says he had a ‘come to Jesus’ moment when he flew down from Auckland to join mates Guy Hughes and Grant Coburn at the Glenorchy Races.
"I looked at the mountains, I looked around me, here were these real people living real lives."
He then gave SkyCity notice, and, aged 50, moved into his Queenstown pad.
"I came here to retire, but after three weeks I started going around the bend."
A friend enticed him to buy into his Canterbury clothing store in O’Connells, which he eventually took over.
After ’99, when adidas took over from Canterbury as the All Blacks’ apparel sponsor, trading suffered.
Miles chased adidas for its account and finally got it, then had to find a store — he finally persuaded Skyline, his O’Connells landlord, to give him space where he is today in its then-new Rees St building.
Between times, he weathered disasters with two Canterbury stores in Christchurch and one at Queenstown’s Remarkables Park.
Rees St was initially branded Going to the Game before Miles took over a Champions of the World licence that had been on a store in The Mall.
All went well till Covid hit in 2020 — "I went within about a month to doing 8% of my normal revenue".
"In my 50 years in business, this was the biggest challenge I’d ever struck.
"All other Champions of the World stores went broke almost immediately, and I was determined not to let it beat me because I realised, at my age, if I gave it away there’d be no going back."
Amid sleepless nights he was grateful for government-funded advice from local business adviser Amanda Cushen — and to adidas for allowing him to break an agreement to buy $150,000 worth of stock, which would have broken him.
In ’22, he rebranded his shop Rugby Planet, with fit-out help from adidas, and he’s come back strongly as one of the CBD’s last remaining independent retailers.
Miles has no immediate intentions to retire, though he’s reduced his hours after making a staff member a shareholder.
"I love the customers, I just love the vibe of it.
"It’s good income, and I sort of think, ‘why would you not want to keep doing that?"’
Away from the store, Miles had a long stint on the local chamber of commerce board, including two terms as deputy chair.
And then there are his seven vehicles — "I’m a car tragic".
"I only buy cars I’ll never sell, and that means I only buy special cars."
He’s owned his MG for 55 years and his Datsun 240Z and BMW for 50 years, and shouted himself a ’67 E-Type Jag for his 60th birthday.
His latest purchase is a 2020 Jag — "I basically wanted a modern car that when you jumped in it, it worked".
