Koalakrane is a very special franchise because we are the only established amusement crane machine franchise in the world. We started way back in 2000 and have been going strong ever since. So how did it all start? Founder Cliff Hopkins used to be a sales manager for his brother’s company, selling teddy bears to gift shops, florists and toy stores. Cliff was looking for a business idea using soft toys and thought about crane machines. He imported one machine and put it outside a shop in Auckland, sharing revenue with the owner. It went very well and it all grew from there. To grow the operation Cliff organized people all round the country to buy businesses that run crane machines, while he organized soft toys and later chocolates for them. The synergy between organizer and operator became obvious and the franchise system Kiwikrane was born. With business partner Paul Hydes joining in to assist, by 2006 Kiwikrane had completely covered New Zealand with crane machines.
