Many people profess to loving ice cream, but few can claim to have had as lasting a love affair with the treat as Aucklander Colin Haines. He opened Royal Oak's iconic American-style ice creamery and diner, Ollies, on Valentine's Day 1973, and – 50 years later – his love remains undimmed..
EVENTS
HISTORY– An Ollies timeline
Ollies Ice and Eatin’ House first opened its doors in Royal Oak, bringing a touch of Canada to the Roundabout.
Our famous Ollie Dog (an American hotdog with cheese and bacon) was added to the menu. It’s been one of our top-selling items ever since. Come in and try the classic that’s stood the test of time!
With growing demand, Ollies opened a second site in Mount Albert. It brought the signature scoops, shakes, and smiles to a new neighbourhood. It was sold after a few years of operation so Colin could spend more time with his family.
Chicken Nuggets landed in New Zealand and to the Ollies menu (and , quickly becoming a favourite among kids (and let’s be honest—adults too). Crispy, golden, and perfectly dunkable.
Cowabunga! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ice cream was launched, complete with green swirls and turtle power.
A prehistoric treat! Our Dinosaur Eggs ice cream came with crunchy “eggs” hidden inside—kids loved digging through their scoop to find the surprise. Product marketing preparing the public for the release of the first Jurassic Park movie.
Flavour experimentation peaked in the early ’90s with wild combos like White Chocolate & Gumdrops and Toffee Apple. Sweet, colourful, and a little bit nostalgic
Ollies added hot nachos to the lineup, making us more than just ice cream. Although tasty, they didn’t make the cut for today’s menu.
The Bat-Signal lit up Ollies! We celebrated the release of Batman Returns with themed ice cream and movie tie-ins. The caped crusader met scoops and smiles.
A slice of New Zealand pop culture filmed at Ollies—Goodnight Kiwi! A nostalgic nod to our place in Kiwi hearts and screens.
We threw a big celebration for our 30th birthday, reuniting staff, customers, and long-time fans. Three decades of scoops, hot chips, and good times.
Half a century of Ollie’s! We celebrated 50 years of making memories, serving favourites, and staying true to our roots. Thank you to everyone who’s been part of the journey.
Colin Retires after 50 years of delighting customers with ice creams. He hands over the scoop to his son Matthew and daughter-in-law Leigh to continue the Ollies legacy
After many iterations of coffee over the years, kettle, stove top, espresso, plunger, machine… Ollies teams up with Roma coffee to provide delicious hot espresso coffee
A CONVERSATION
Interview with Colin
Q: Before you started Ollie’s in 1973, what were you doing beforehand?
A: Carolyn and I came back to New Zealand after being away for five years living in Vancouver.
Q: What were you doing in Vancouver?
A: Well, Carolyn was a school teacher and they really wanted her badly, whereas I really was nothing. I looked for jobs when we got there—
A (continued): I did some selling, had jobs in cars, which I did for three years and really loved it. But for the final three years, we decided after driving all around Canada and America that fast food was the way to go. New Zealand seemed so behind the times!
Q: How much did North America influence your thinking?
A: Hugely!
Q: What were you doing for the last year and a half in Vancouver?
A: I went into fastfood and became the manager of burger joint
Q: Drive-through?
A: Yeah, still around, but the place has changed considerably since. Thank goodness it’s still operating after all these years—we saw it even in Singapore Airport!
Q: What did you do when you first came back to New Zealand?
A: We were just driving around and lo and behold—KFC. I went in and said, “Can I get a job?”
A (continued): I went to work at KFC and then I left at Christmas because we had a visitor from Canada.
Q: That’s quite a funny story, right?
A: I asked for time off to travel with Bob (our friend from Canada) and KFC said no, so I quit. We enjoyed a summer entertaining Bob around New Zealand. After Bob left, I went back to KFC and asked for my job back. They said, “Yeah, sure you can.”
Q: What happened next?
A: I worked at the Royal Oak branch, then moved to Panmure or Takapuna, then back to Royal Oak. I made the biggest leftover of chicken after a shift—35 pieces left over! Oops!
conversation continued
Q: Is that true?
A: Yeah. It happened because school was back and no one realised and we had catered to the school holiday crowds. We ended up with 365 pieces. I very nervously called management first thing the next day.
Q: What did you do with the chicken?
A: I said we should take it to Ranfurly. There were about 120 people there, and enough for three pieces each.
Q: What led you to open Ollies?
A: One Thursday night, we were in flats on Campbell Road, pushing Natalie in the pram around Royal Oak. It was a nice area back then. We saw a drapery shop—sewing needs, underwear, children’s and men’s clothes.
A (continued): The woman there told us her sister had died, her brother-in-law had a stroke, and they needed to sell the shop. They couldn’t find anyone, and eventually we just made the leap!
Q: So you immediately saw potential in that location?
A: Yeah, but we didn’t even know we were going to call it Ollies. We knew location was important. Even though there were no American brands, the first KFC had just opened, which showed it might work.
Q: Why ice cream and not burgers or something else?
A: We looked at burger bars around the city and they were horrible. At least two people tried drive-in restaurants and failed.
A (continued): On Queen Street, ice cream parlours were booming. Quagg’s was the most famous—they had about four locations. Ice cream wasn’t that popular overseas the same way. New Zealanders just love ice cream! We thought we needed to do food too, though, not just ice cream.
Q: Were there early doubts or challenges in the first year?
A: We worried a little, set a minimum and maximum turnover goal, and the shop just went way beyond our expectations.
A (continued): My mum panicked we might not get any customers at all. Probably our biggest challenge was having enough staff. From day one, that was an issue.
Q: How many staff did you start with?
A: About four. We had one guy working in the kitchen, me and on opening day, a young couple came in and I asked the woman if she wanted to work for me. She said she’d ask her mum, and came back to start work.
Q: What were the uniforms like?
A: They were amazing. Rouged down the front, pleated, wide flared sleeves, bright patterns—chickens and flowers. I made at least five to start, then twenty at a time later on. Big white rickrack on the sleeves. They could wear shorts or trousers.
Q: Do you have any left over?
A: They were used up—I don’t think they were just thrown away, we used them as rags! Some were better than others, but the chicken ones with flowers were unforgettable.
conversation continued
Q: Did you do any marketing or advertising before opening?
A: No, we just opened. It didn’t take long to set up. We had to clear everything out and reset the shop fast. Friends helped.
A (continued): We opened on 14 February 1973.
Q: Did you plan for Valentine’s Day?
A: No, it wasn’t even celebrated much back then.
Q: How many flavours did you have when you opened?
A: We had 12 to start.
Q: Any flavours people wouldn’t know today?
A: Oh Goodness, yes. Some had names people couldn’t even say—like “Tutti Fruity.” We tried to draw on overseas ideas.
Q: How did you finance the startup?
A: We borrowed, I can’t even remember the a full amount!
Q: Did Ollie’s ever go into a lull?
A: Yes, when McDonald’s and Pizza Hut came in. For a few years we were it, but then customers were divided among new options. That’s about when we doubled in size and took over the rest of the building.
Q: Do you know how many ice creams you sold on the first day?
A: No clue. Colin worked double shifts for the first three years, seven days a week, so it must have been a few!
Q: And you opened a second Ollie’s later?
A: Yes, in Mount Albert. A friend mentioned it, we looked, bought the business, and opened there. That was just before Stephanie was born (our youngest daughter), while we were also dealing with building a house.
Q: One of the most iconic things about Ollie’s is the poppy design. Where did that come from?
A: It was just about making a bold, simple impact. Something people would remember. We had lots of photos from America—places that caught your attention. Signage was huge.
Q: What were your opening hours?
A: We opened at 10:30 AM and shut at 11 PM. On Fridays and Saturdays, we shut at 1 AM.
Q: Was that unusual?
A: Yes, but there was no one else open then. Even today, not many are.
Q: What was food like in New Zealand in the 1970s?
A: Very plain. No real ethnic food. We ate Chinese on Queen Street with friends, but it wasn’t common.
Q: Was there anything you couldn’t get in supermarkets back then?
A: When we went to America, I ran up and down supermarket aisles screaming. Everything was different. We were so behind—it was like going to another world.
Q: What role has your family played in Ollie’s?
A: All four of our children worked there once they were old enough. We called their pay “party money.”
Q: Has your family played a big role in supporting Ollie’s over the years?
A: Oh, absolutely. My mother played the very first role—babysitting Natalie so I could go to work.
conversation continued
Q: Over the years, did you have a favourite customer?
A: Oh, we had a number of them. I wont embarrass them!
Q: Do any in particular stand out?
A: One who really sticks in my memory was Pam Weir. She was actually one of our first staff members, but before that she came in practically hysterical with excitement. She’d been watching the store get set up and couldn’t wait for opening day. She wanted to be the very first person to come in—and she was! She ended up working for us.
Q: Do you remember your very first customer?
A: Not really… I wish we had written that kind of thing down. We never made a big memorabilia wall or anything. That’s one regret—we didn’t record those little milestones.
The best memorabilia wall I’ve ever seen was at the Victoria Café in Christchurch. They had taken over two shops and covered the walls with photos of film stars and visitors. Sadly, the building got damaged and they weren’t allowed to retrieve anything. I was devastated by that.
Q: What was it like being part of the Royal Oak business community?
A: Oh, we loved it. One of our favourite places was the chemist, run by a lovely man who became a bit of an institution himself. He was probably the only one around as long as we were.
Q: Do you remember his name?
A: I think he’s gone now. He might have worked a bit after retiring, but I’m not sure anymore.
Q: What about the hot food at Ollies—was it similar to today’s menu?
A: Yes, it’s always been similar. Burgers, hot dogs… that kind of thing. Over the years we’ve made small adjustments, and some items came and went.
We used to do nachos – who knows maybe we should bring it back?
Q: What’s the weirdest thing you ever sold at Ollies?
A: Cigarettes. And our first robbery was for cigarettes. Back then they were cheap, but still worth stealing. I think some staff stole them too. We even smoked in the shop ourselves—don’t say that, though!
Q: Any idea how many high school students have worked at Ollie’s over the years?
A: Definitely in the thousands. We had so, so many! So many great kids have passed through the shop.
Q: What did working at Ollies mean for those students?
A: We always saw it as something really important. So many came in shy and unsure, never having worked before. They’d never even wiped a table or cleaned a toilet! Colin would patiently teach them everything—how to cut a bun, clean properly, you name it.
By the time they left, they were confident and capable. It gave them real-life skills.
Q: Do you know what some of them went on to do?
A: Quite a few became actors, teachers—some ended up on television. Doctors, lawyers, nurses, entrepreneurs – you name it! Lots of great people came through.
Continued
Q: Any memorable ice cream flavours over the years?
A: Oh yes! The best ice cream we ever had was made by a company in Palmerston North. They did a Swiss coffee one—it had a light coffee syrup through it. I can still taste it.
There was a black licorice ice cream that stained all the kids’ clothes—so that one disappeared quickly!
Black Forest, Cassata, even Rum & Raisin—those all disappeared too, sadly. But I think people are coming back around to liking those “old-fashioned” flavours. Rum and Raisin is now back!
Q: Is there a quintessential “Ollies” flavour?
A: Probably cookies and cream. That was a huge seller when I worked there—twice as much as anything else. It had soft, smooth chunks, not the hard bits some have now.
More recently, salted caramel has been really popular.
Q: Why do you think New Zealand eats more ice cream per person than anywhere else in the world?
A: I think it’s a mix of things. Tip Top and other companies made really good ice cream, and we’ve always seen ice cream as different from “junk” food. It was dairy—wholesome, even healthy in people’s minds.
And it’s part of our culture. You go to Cornwall Park or Jellicoe Pools, and afterward—you get an ice cream.
When I was a kid, I’d get taken out by the neighbours, and we’d always get ice cream—even if I didn’t like it then!
Q: Have any famous people come through the shop?
A: Yes! Monty Betham came in a lot. I chatted to him once, not knowing who he was, and one of the staff told me afterward.
We’ve had some actors, and the Blues and the Warriors players would drop in sometimes. One time, we were at a party and Monty walked over to talk to us, leaving a bunch of girls mid-sentence—he remembered us from the shop!
Q: Did you play music in the shop?
Staff would bring in tapes or CDs—whatever was their favourite at the time.
I didn’t like heavy metal, but most 70s and 80s music was fine. At Christmas, we’d play Frank Sinatra. He’s great for calming things down—he should be in every classroom!
At Ollies we love ice cream, we know you’ll love our cheerful atmosphere and dizzying array of flavours. We’ve been serving up the fun since 1973, come and see why folk have been enjoying our ice creams, thickshakes, sundaes and great food for more than fifty years.
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Ollies celebrates 51 years scooping ice creams. Royal Oak’s iconic American-style ice creamery and diner, Ollies opened on Valentine’s Day 1973.
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