The Green Monkey Story
The idea of Green Monkey was hatched way back in 2004 when founder Daniel Carruthers was sitting at the Palmerston North train-station brainstorming a list of potential names for a pop-up clothing store he had in Dunedin. This name has always been close-to-mind and fast-forward 12 years later in 2016, while in Chiangmai Thailand in January, the plan was put to motion to launch the Green Monkey brand in New Zealand.
"The birth of our son during the Chinese Year of the Monkey really gives our business meaning as we put our skills and connections gained from living in China to good use. It is our goal to provide top quality custom-made products like cycling jerseys and bib shorts as well as sell high quality retail products that we have exclusive representation for in the New Zealand market," says Daniel Carruthers, and he goes on further to say: "With the increase in popularity of cycling in New Zealand with many mountain bike parks being opened throughout the country, we believe we can serve the needs of Kiwi cyclists from all levels".
Daniel has been an entrepreneur since the young age of 11 when he sold nuts, fruits and chocolate on the streets of Auckland to raise money to purchase his own bike when his mum said no more bikes from me. During his teen years he even started his own lawn-mowing business and sold clothing imported from Thailand. With his artistic talents he even made good cash from selling his artwork during his global travels that has seen him live in several countries including Israel, St Helena, Taiwan, USA, Thailand and China.
With this enterprising spirit, he has created the Green Monkey Velo business here in New Zealand with already a good number of satisfied and repeat customers of his business. With the launch of this direct to consumer website, it is hoped that top-notch quality custom and retail products are more accessible to Kiwi customers at competitive prices. For Green Monkey branded clothing, it is hoped that the business will extend beyond the shores of Kiwi-land.
Both Daniel and Jennifer came back to New Zealand in February with several places in mind to settle, including as far south as Invercargill and Sunny Nelson. In the end, for lifestyle and business reasons, they settled on living in Rotorua to raise their family of four (including their agile Jack Russell/Lab cross).
"Rotorua seems like the best choice for both lifestyle and the business. Being in such a cycling oriented town really does help our business and especially with Crankworx staying here for another 10 years bringing in substantial economic benefit and the 200,000 plus cyclists per year visiting this town to experience the world-class MTB trails in the Whakarewarewa Forest. Its an amazing place to be and we feel like we have come at the right time and help fill a gap in the market."
Both Jennifer and Daniel are experienced professionals in the bicycle industry having founded DJC Media & Marketing in 2011 and helped numerous brands and events in the Asia-Pacific region with marketing and media coverage. Some notable brands include WTB, Cannondale, Club Ride, PowerTap, CycleOps, Saris Cycling Group and Neil Pryde Bikes. Within the cycling circles in Asia, they became widely known as the husband/wife media team providing media coverage to flagship events around Asia including Mongolia Bike Challenge, HERO MTB Himalayas, Giro de Filipinas, Thailand's Tour of Friendship, and Tour de Bintan.
Green Monkey Velo will help you with your custom product needs for your brand, team or shop. To learn more about the custom product offerings you can visit the Custom Products page.
The main concept behind Green Monkey Velo is to have fun on two-wheels with your mates or family and the access to our high quality products is just a by-product towards expressing your personality and make you feel more stylish on the bicycle. If you have your own inspirational design that you would like to see realised, contact Daniel and Jennifer at Green Monkey Velo, they will help ensure you get your dream with unique custom uniforms that will have you standing out from the crowd.
