newsXpress is proud of it’s member network and ensures regular meetings are held to get everyone together to share ideas, discuss strategies, deliver information and catch up.
Below are some photos of recent member meetings around Australia. Meetings are held in each state every 2 months.
Manni Ribeiro manager of the quaint store in Central Queensland is never shy to take a chance by promoting several categories at once.
While his HOT ink! is steadily improving (see picture below highlighting the national TV advertisement) , the plush collectible Beanie kids are flying out the door. With over 40 sales in just two weeks at an excellent profit margin this trial is certainly paying its way.
The photos below detail the new art centre setup along the back wall at newsXpress Scott’s Lismore, they have also relocated the paper to give it a bigger hit.
Sales of art supplies have already gone up and a lot more people are moving towards the back because of the colour.
The Canson Creative Centre is exclusive to newsXpress.
Some further photos have shown up from what was a fantastically well attended (300 +) industry function. Enjoy!
Earlier this blog brought you the inspiring story of how newsXpress Ballarat had benefited from the newsXpress/Hallmark strategic partnership.
It seems that greeting cards are not the only area of the business showing improvement through the Ballarat affiliation with newsXpress.
The store is up over 400% in calendars this year due to the calendarXpress program. It is a great example of members embracing technology, embracing the newsXpress business strategies, tracking sales data and reaping the benefits.
This outstanding run has even stretched into other aspects of the business and two recent snippets in the local paper show the changes in store are being well received by the residents. Letters to the editor expressed gratitude for the team for firstly: alerting a customer of a lotto prize they had won 15 months earlier, before moving to FNQ; and secondly, a team member at newsXpress Ballarat handing in a wallet full of cash.
We hope their hard work pays off with a great Easter result.
Now that ‘Mr newsXpress‘ Graham Randall is back out on the road serving newsXpressers, he had to learn how to beacon brand. See the “Chairman” in action here at newsXpress Westpoint learning how to do it.
Mary McNeil one of our Business Development Managers was on hand to teach both Graham and the Westpoint team how to beacon brand. As part of our overall 4 point magazine strategy beacon branding has helped newsXpressers lift magazine store on store sales to the highest in the industry in terms on volume per outlet.
We love magazines at newsXpress.
Believe it or not team newsXpress won the day with the best score. Pictured are Phil Johnson form newsXpress Parkmore, Ian Urquhart State Business Manager for VIC/Tas/SA, Gary Angus from newsXpress Pall Mall, Chris Samartzis from newsXpress Reservoir and Richmond football Club legend Francis Bourke. Rumor has it Chris carried them all day. Well done Christos!
Other photos are of Gary Lovell from Lovell’s newsagency in Shepparton and Peter Cowley and Bronwyn Roney from VANA.
A hot day for hot golf in 38 degree temperature at Royal Keysborough.
newsXpress Ballarat is a shopping centre based member with significant competition. Their efforts of embracing our strong supplier alliance has shown an almost 18% increase in Valentine’s Day sales over last year.
And how do they know? Simple really. Within 7 days of Valentine’s Day, Hallmark had completed a review of the store sales and determined that newsXpress Ballarat has increased it’s Valentine’s Day sales by 17.94% over last year. Additionally, Hallmark used store photos in their recent sales meeting.
Whilst the store visits might have caused Ballarat to get very quick results, Hallmark will provide valuable feedback of sales performance to every member and then work to ensure these great sales increases are continued.
As a part of our member meeting in NSW/ACT we had a store visit to newsXpress Glendale. The learnings for our members were tremendous. The networking opportunity even more valuable.
NSW/ACT meeting in Newcastle was held on Tuesday to allow members to cross-pollinate, share ideas and have ideas to take back to stores to be implemented. newsXpress continually holds regular local member meetings in each state to get members together and drive their business due north.
As written earlier in this blog, newsXpress Glendale commissioned an innovative refit last year. Among the great designs is this solution to your A5 Teenage magazines display dilemmas.
newsXpress believes in the importance of a work/life balance, taking time out of your business to work on it not in it.
These 2 photos are of two different networking functions that are held at different times of the year…the Ballarat Race Day in November and the Fraser Island Getaway in February.
Both these annual events give business owners the opportunity to escape the everyday grind enabling them to network with other like minded, positive retailers in a relaxed environment. These getaways are open to all newsXpresser’s, Newsagents, Industry partners, Suppliers and friends.
The importance of stepping outside your business can provide benefits in many ways:
If anyone is interested in joining in on the next event, please do not hesitate to contact us at nxpcommcentre@newsxpress.com.au
One of newsXpress‘ newest members, Canning Vale in Western Australia were given an opportunity to submit an A5 advertisement in their local paper due to a strong relationship with their centre management.
Consulting newsXpress Phil & Shelley were given access to a template which has been designed to produce maximum impact. The De Giorgio’s populated the template with the information they wanted to highlight and now have a very professional advertisement for their local market.
Phil & Wendy Banks from newsXpress Glendale in Newcastle completed a shop fit 18 months ago. They introduced a number of innovations at this time, one such was by building a gift wall. This has worked so well that they recently made some more changes to the shop to extend the gift wall.
With margins of over 50% and a great lay buy strategy which allows them to sell gifts in excess of $300 they have created a great new money stream for the store.
Photos above depict the majestic ‘Gift Wall’ and the team behind the innovation.
Note the clever use of point of sale giving the background a 3D effect.
Use of Forever friends Bears to spell the message ” Happy Birthday”, and carefully constructed cake with candles.
Who could resist buying this magazine with such a stunning display? Well done to the team at newsXpress Indooroopilly.
At first glance you’ll notice that newsXpress Reservoir is not the flashiest of shops, however, with a new shop fit coming up in the not too distant future Chris, Helen and their team work the shop hard.
They have recently introduced books and a prodigious amount of gifts, and also scented candles to the store, which are working well and bringing new money streams to their business.
newsXpress members don’t rest on their laurels, they work the store hard every day driving sales. Its about day to day operational profit not just waiting for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. New money strategies as well as our soon to be launched Project XLR program, are just the tip of the iceberg at newsXpress.
At the newsXpress laboratory at the Watergardens Town Centre in Taylors Lakes, Ben and the team continue to experiment and innovate with new product, fixtures and fittings. Not only are the learning’s from the Sophie Randall card and gift business being translated into the store with new style gift tables and displays. The Moorish range of product suggested by Bradley Dean from newsXpress GPO in Brisbane has been introduced with great effect. We take learning’s from our interstate members, cross pollinate with one another and implement new money strategies into our network of stores.
Its only through sharing ideas and expressing our views that the group grows. By only having quality members, regular state and cluster meetings combined with the newly introduced One on One Business Development sessions, we get to share. That’s what makes our group strong.
There is something lucky about a four leaf clover, and newsXpress The Gap have decorated their lottery area with an attractive display just before St Patrick’s Day, gaining mileage from a “One day Promotion”.
newsXpress promote and provide marketing materials and ideas for smaller events such as St. Patricks Day to cater to their customer base and differentiate themselves from other retailers.
Giftware sales at newsXpress Albany Creek is a “new money” category, generated by existing customers (traffic flow) purchasing the beautifully presented giftware in the window area.
To further grow sales, Michael and Wendy had new fixtures made, pushed the existing card fixtures back to create a bigger dance floor, and sales have accelerated. Customers appreciate the extra “space” in which to browse the new gift ranges.
newsXpress The Pines has just under gone extensive refurbishments and a shop-fit in the last fortnight, things are still progressing and moving forward nicely… A job well done to the team at newsXpress The Pines for all their hard work and efforts through this hectic time of transition…
Lyndall and her newsXpress team will continue to work on the transformation of this store to cater for all the newsXpress key strategies to drive new business…
The photos show the new front of the store layout with a strong Easter presence, the Beacon Branding of the weekly magazines and the Diddl display.