Vortica quietly opens first disc golf retail store in Ōtautahi/Christchurch
Vortica was established in 2011, with the simple idea of saving our friends and acquaintances a bundle of money by buying discs in bulk. Since that time, and with hard work Vortica has grown into the largest independent wholesaler in NZ, and have become New Zealand’s most prolific and experienced disc golf course designers and installers. And now Vortica are entering the retail space, with Ōtautahi being the first store to open, at 11:30am on Thursday 11th August 2022 at 697 Gloucester Street.
Despite the large additional costs of setting up and operating a 75 square metre retail store, we continue to feature the same old disc prices; the lowest in New Zealand!* The store will open with over 3,000 discs in stock. Expect trading hours to evolve as we discover the best times to open. Initially hours will be: Wednesday – Friday: 11:30am to 1:30pm Saturday – Sunday: 10:00am to 5:00pm
There's 30-minute car parking right outside the front door.
Local support will dictate opening hours and product range
In order for the shop’s hours to extend, and the product range to grow, it will be necessary for local Ōtautahi players to strongly support the store. Product Range Vortica are a South Island Master Distributor for RPM, and we currently carry Innova, Latitude64, Westside, and Dynamic Discs. We are shortly taking on an MVP, Discraft, and Prodigy product manager, to properly cover those manufacturers once again.
Sustainable Growth
Vortica has been fiscally responsible in its choice of store location (Just 3-minutes walk from Chris’s home), initial stock levels , and opening hours. There will be no grand opening, and growing the store slowly over time is our plan. Vortica Shop Staff Initially Chris will run the store, while our sponsored player, Riley Bruce, and Vortica associate Bryn Hill will run the store for a few hours each weekend. We’ll publish who’s going to be on duty each day at Facebook.
Turn on notifications to see our daily specials Vortica will regularly post to Facebook detailing the upcoming Disc Of The Day, as well as any daily specials. These deals, will only be available to shop visitors – and not available for online purchase. In all cases, it will be first-in-best-dressed for all such disc sales. Special discs reserved for Ōtautahi players To reward our local and loyal Vortica customers, we will hold certain stock back from the web site, and reserve it exclusively for visitors to the shop. Here we’re referring to Tour Series discs, collector discs of all kinds, New-Old stock, Swirly Atomic RPM discs, and whatever else we think local players will enjoy having first choice of. Strictly limited RPM 1R and collectable disc sales At opening, we’re offering some old-school RPMs and 1R discs for sale. We have no problem charging like a wounded bull for these special discs – which are made from 99% pure Unobtainium.
Win a disc each month with Vortica Pic' To Win Take a picture/selfie of your smiling face, and include your disc collection in the photo. Come to the shop, where we will print your 6x4 and pin it to the "Pic To Win" corkboard . At the end of each month we'll randomly pick a winner, and then move all the photos below the line. Each month when you visit, move your photo up into the “Pic To Win” section again to be in the draw to win another disc.
A focal point for local players and the disc golf community Vortica has created two large cork-tiled noticeboards. One will be exclusively devoted to locals, local events, and activities . Here’s where you can put up a note about the discs you are seeking, or discs you have to swap.
Here you’ll also find advertising for upcoming events, and regular community activities. So, if you are planning a disc golf Thing™ in Ōtautahi, please bring in a poster or the details of the event, for prominent display in the store. Espresso coffee and a disc golf chat? If you ever want to chat about anything disc golf-related, please pull up our super-comfy rocking chair while we make you a freshly ground espresso. Chris is known to never turn down the opportunity to talk about disc golf, or to freely share his 35 years of disc golf experience.
Disc Golf Museum in-store A special section of the store will be devoted to displaying Not-For-Sale discs and disc golf memorabilia dating right back to the very start of Frisbee. Also on display will be many discs collected from world champions, USDGC winners, and touring pros over the years.
Disc Donation box for VOYCE Whakarongo Mai
In order to further support Vortica Associate Paddy Caffell and the wonderful work he does with youth in the care system, Vortica is setting up a donation box so that you may donate old (or new!) discs to this very worthy cause. RPM and Vortica both strongly support Paddy in his mission to change lives using disc golf – and we strongly encourage you to dig deep and do the same. Vortica Business Changes
Vortica’s head office along with all our stock, has shifted to Christchurch, with Chris now fulfilling all wholesale and web orders, running the retail outlet, and building up the shop. Martin’s role has also changed. He is now concentrating on administration, business development, communications, outreach, and course installations. These changes will allow Vortica to more effectively use its ever-increasing resources to satisfy the ever-growing demand for discs, accessories, and the highest quality courses.
Comment to win a 1R Cosmic Takapu
New Zealand and Ōtautahi residents are encouraged to leave a comment. We'll pick the best comment on August 31st. Apologies to our overseas readers, this one's just for the Kiwis.
Kia tika te rere – Enjoy the flight!
* Vortica Disc Golf has the lowest priced golf discs in New Zealand as confirmed by Sweet Chain in 2022.
