Step inside our new Folders store at 85 North Road, Kaitaia. Discover our electronics, appliance, bedding and home ranges - and meet the local team ready to help you find the right products for your home.
Creating greater choice from the Far North
As a Northland-owned family business based in Kaitaia, we understood the disadvantages regional customers often faced. Product ranges were smaller, freight was expensive and many leading suppliers concentrated their attention on New Zealand’s largest centres.
We believed Northland, and regional New Zealand more broadly, deserved better. What we didn’t know at the time was customers in city locations had similar issues!
Today, hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders visit folders each year. Customers can explore a national online range, have products delivered throughout New Zealand and still receive the personal help they would expect from a good local retailer.
Behind our website are real people. If you call or contact us, you will reach a team member who knows our products, understands our business and is ready to help.
Creating greater choice
When we entered retail in 2012, we started in a building not much bigger than a postage stamp.
Building a national retail business from Kaitaia was never going to be easy. Accessing suppliers and obtaining competitive buying terms took persistence, resourcefulness and plenty of conversations. Technology gave us the opportunity to overcome distance and connect customers with products that had previously been difficult to access locally.
What began as a small Kaitaia store has grown into a nationwide online retailer offering an extensive range of appliances, furniture, kitchenware, technology, outdoor products, homewares and much more.
But the reason we exist has not changed:
To give customers, wherever they live, greater choice, competitive value and genuinely helpful service.
A few bumps in the road
The journey was not easy. For years, we worked to convince suppliers to support a retailer in Kaitaia and provide competitive buying terms. We also developed freight relationships that allowed us to deliver throughout New Zealand at competitive rates.
Then came COVID-19, a prolonged recession and, in March 2026, a devastating flood. Half a metre of water flowed through our store, forcing us to write off more than $1.2 million in stock and fittings. The building remained uninhabitable for five months.
Keeping our staff employed and our online business operating was an enormous challenge, but together, we did it.
Adversity also creates opportunity. We have moved into a building less than half the size and are operating more efficiently with a focused in-store range. Our online business is growing again, the Kaitaia store is performing well, and our team has emerged stronger and more adaptable.
There will always be bumps in the road. What matters is how you respond - and Folders keeps moving forward.
Generations of determination
Our family’s connection with the Far North reaches back to the 1830s and missionary Rev. Joseph Matthews, who played an important role in establishing Kaitaia as a settlement.
The photograph shows timber being milled for the local Anglican church - an example of the determination, practical skill and community effort required to build a settlement in the Far North.
Successive generations of our family remained involved in farming and enterprise around Kaitaia, with Folders becoming part of that continuing story in 2012.
The qualities needed to build a life and a business here - persistence, independence, adaptability and community connection- continue to shape how we operate today.
We are proud that technology now allows a family business based in Kaitaia to serve customers throughout New Zealand. More importantly, it helps us address the problem that originally inspired Folders: ensuring customers do not have to accept less simply because of where they live.
Take a tour of our new Kaitaia store
Real people. Real service.
Together with the wider Folders team, we are real people who are ready to help. Whether you are choosing a major appliance, furnishing a room, replacing an everyday essential or searching for something difficult to find, our team can provide practical advice and support before and after your purchase.
Folders has grown considerably since its early days, but we never take that growth, or the trust of our customers, for granted.
We remain committed to straightforward advice, integrity, competitive value and taking responsibility when customers need our help. These are more than statements on a page; they are the standards against which we want our customers to judge us. More than 4,500 customer reviews reflect the products, delivery and service our customers have experienced. Every order, review and returning customer helps an independent, locally owned family business continue to grow.
We are grateful to everyone who has chosen to become part of the Folders story.
Great choice. Real service. From Kaitaia to all of New Zealand.
