| 45 TRADING CO. PROUD SUPPLIERS TO HADDAD MENSWEAR SINCE 1998 WHATEVER THE WEATHER, WE HAVE YOU COVERED WORN BY RURAL KIWIS SINCE 1997 WWW.OUTBACKTRADING.CO.NZ INFO@OUTBACKTRADING.CO.NZ @OUTBACK_TRADING_NZ 200 JOHN F KENNEDY DRIVE, PALMERSTON NORTH 4414 REGIONAL Haddad Menswear AL P SOCK S Proudly NZ Made Haddad Cooltech and SAS socks Durable heavyweight and stretch moleskins for any occasion. sales@tussockcreek.co.nz tussockcreek.com T T Kelly Deeks Marking 100 years of valued service John, left, and Karam Haddad - a lifetime serving the Ōtorohanga community. Ōtorohanga’s position on State Highway 3 has long been central to its role as a service town, bringing farming communities, contractors, travellers, tourists, and generations of customers through the King Country town. For Haddad Menswear owner John Haddad, that strategic location is closely tied to the meaning of Ōtorohanga itself. “Ōtorohanga is the feeding place,” he says. “Its name in Māori means food for a long journey, and all the people from five different regions stop here to eat, rest and gather for meetings because we’re less than two and a half hours from everywhere.” John’s connection with Ōtorohanga stretches back to his father Michael, who came from Lebanon in 1926 and opened the town’s first fruit shop in 1928. In 1935 he opened Michael’s Milk Bar, which he operated for 37 years and which John took over in 1967. His older brother Karam opened Haddad Menswear next door in 1965. John joined Karam in the clothing business in 1971, and the brothers expanded the store, eventually doubling its size. The business model was deliberately simple. John ended the store’s credit system, instead offering customers better prices for cash sales. But the brothers’ strongest point of difference was service, something John says began with his first job as a 17-year-old telegram boy at the post office in 1963. He often had tragic news to deliver, so would sit with the recipients as they read, making customer care his number one priority. That philosophy has built relationships spanning generations. One local family visited the shop last year with four generations together, all needing new Red Band gumboots, highlighting for John how his business has been woven into the fabric of people’s lives. The importance of the highway became particularly clear when authorities proposed bypassing Ōtorohanga. John joined other local businesspeople in building a case against the proposal, researching overseas evidence about driver fatigue and highway hypnosis. He says the argument was not simply about protecting local businesses. Ōtorohanga’s location made the highway important for road safety as well as commerce, because drivers travelling long distances benefit from having a town directly on their route. The bypass was ultimately built elsewhere. That issue became painfully personal for John when Karam died in a road crash in 2022, aged 83. John says police ruled out a medical event and determined fatigue was involved, with Karam only about 10 minutes from home. Karam’s death has left John carrying the family business forward, supported by staff and customers who have become part of the Haddad family story. John says the business remains grounded in the same principle that has guided him since his first working day: giving people personal service. “The public and the people are my extended family,” he says. “I’ve always wanted to be on the front line with them.” In November 2026, the Haddad family will mark 100 years since Michael arrived in Ōtorohanga on Guy Fawkes Night, adding another chapter to a family business story built around place, people, and service. But John knows Haddad Menswear is only as good as the last customer it has served. “When the customer walks out the door with a smile on their face, then we know we’ve succeeded.”
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