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Mutual trust with newsagents

newsXpress does not believe in locking in members to long term contracts. This is why our members may leave at 30 days notice. We would rather newsagents stay with newsXpress because they want to and not because of an onerous contract. That we have grown five times our size in the four years since 2005 indicates we are doing something right.

We have seen situations where newsagents have been refused the right to leave a marketing / franchise group and have had to involve lawyers – with little success. No one wins from such a handcuff approach.

We prefer a friendlier and mutually supportive and trusting relationship. This is why newsXpress is committed to a 30 day notice period. It respects our member newsagents and keeps our mind focused on serving our members and not enforcing a contract.

newsXpress members work on business

The latest round of newsXpress member meetings started yesterday in Brisbane. A feature of the meetings is small group discussions on traditing conditions and business opportunities. In these smaller groups, members share persoanl experiences from their bsuinesses. Collaborating with colleagues like this opens newsXpress members to experiences and ideas which they may not have encountered had they remained in their businesses focused locally.

We set the discussion up with up to date performance numbers provided by key newsXpress suppliers. This provided a factual basis from which we were able to develop the discussion.

Facilitated networking such as the business discussion which opens the current round of member meeting is a key newsXpress difference. It demonstrates our commitment to helping our members expand their options and make more informed decisions.

With more than 160 members nationally, we are well situated to bring diverse experiences to the discussion table.

The photo shows one of the small groups from yesterday’s meeting.

Perth seminar promoting newsXpress

newsXpress is hosting a free introductory briefing in Perth for prospective newsXpress members on April 30 at 10am.

Any newsagent interested in achieving more from their business is most welcome to attend.

We will outline exclusive to newsXpress deals, exclusive to newsXpress business marketing initiatives and provide an excellent newsagent networking opportunity.

If you want to grow your newsagency then this session is for you.

Click here to download and print a copy of the flyer promoting this event.

Magazine loyalty program enhanced

newsXpress has enhanced its magazine loyalty program to leverage the strength of our 160 stores nationally engaging with this exceptional value magazine offer. The enhanced newsXpress magazine Club Card loylaty program focuses attention solely on the newsXpress brand.

New Magazine Club Card stocks are provided without cost to all newsXpress members.

Members will be further briefed on the changes to the Magazine Club Card at member meetings which start tomorrow in Brisbane.

Supplier participation in newsXpress member meetings

We have a range of suppliers joining us for our next round of newsXpress member meetings which start next week. Senior managemennt representayives from Golden Casket, Intralot, ACP Magazines, Pacific Magazines and several other suppliers will be available to newsXpress members for discussion, feedback and networking.

The meetings will be held in four states:

Brisbane: Tuesday 21st April Brisbane – 10am, Brisbane Technology Park, Conference Centre,1 Clunies Ross Court,Eight Mile Plains QLD

Melbourne: Thursday 23rd April Melbourne – 10am, Malvern Valley Golf & Reception Centre (Arlington), Golfers Drive, Malvern East VIC

Sydney: Tuesday 28th April Sydney – 10am, The Lakes Golf Club, King Street, Eastlakes NSW

Perth: Thursday 30th April Perth – 12pm (Lunch) 1pm (Meeting), Country Comfort Inter City Perth, 249-263 Great Eastern Highway, Belmont WA

Newsagents considering joining a marketing group would be most welcome to book a place and experience the newsXpress difference first-hand.

Not all suppliers will be at each meeting.

Finding employees for newsagents

Since the launch of our new website we have been receiving applications daily from people looking to work at a newsXpress newsagency. This is another service some of our members are finding useful. People proactively making contact with us through the website are demonstrating good initiative, an attribute important in retail.

newsXpress appoints National Product Development Manager

newsXpress has appointed Ray Westlow to the new role of National Product Development Manager. Ray brings to the role more than twenty years experience in the stationery channel, most recently with Wilson Stationery. His role with newsXpress will focus on developing and rolling out a consistent stationery plan-a-gram offer to all newsXpress locations and supporting this with professional in-store training and marketing collateral.

“Ray is a welcome addition to our national newsXpress team.” said Graham Randall, Managing Director of newsXpress Pty Ltd. “His stationery experience will help us evolve the next generation of our stationery offer and build profitable intellectual property for newsXpress and our members.”

Ben Kay, newsXpress General Manager welcomed Ray’s appointment: “Ray’s appointment strengthens our position in the marketplace and reinforces our position as the best newsagency marketing group in the country.”

“I am excited by the opportunity to help newsXpress newsagents reinvent their stationery offer.” Commented Westlow. “It is time for newsagents to achieve more from their stationery department and I plan to help them do that.”

This appointment is the realisation of another commitment newsXpress made at its national conference last year. It strengthens the leadership of the company and extends the range of services delivered to members.

The newsXpress membership fee of $495 a month remains unchanged despite this significant extension to its services to members.

newsXpress will outline more details of the new stationery strategy at its next round of member meetings later this month.

newsXpress member meeting agenda

The agenda for our next round of newsXpress newsagent member meetings will include:

New special deal product opportunities
Local area marketing workshop
Merchandise plans for Q3 2009
Brand compliance – opportunities
Year to date newsXpress group financials
An update on our magazine project
Member open forum

The meetings will be held in four states:

Brisbane: Tuesday 21st April Brisbane – 10am, Brisbane Technology Park, Conference Centre,1 Clunies Ross Court,Eight Mile Plains QLD

Melbourne: Thursday 23rd April Melbourne – 10am, Malvern Valley Golf & Reception Centre (Arlington), Golfers Drive, Malvern East VIC

Sydney: Tuesday 28th April Sydney – 10am, The Lakes Golf Club, King Street, Eastlakes NSW

Perth: Thursday 30th April Perth – 12pm (Lunch) 1pm (Meeting), Country Comfort Inter City Perth, 249-263 Great Eastern Highway, Belmont WA

Newsagents considering joining a marketing group would be most welcome to book a place and experience the newsXpress difference first-hand.

Stunning Lovatts crossword display

Our talented team at newsXpress Watergardens, our corporate store in Victoria, has created a stunning front-of-store display promoting Lovatts crossword products.

By following a less is more principle, the display stands out to people passing the shop in the mall. Too often displays at the front of newsagencies are cluttered and project mixed messages. We have seen customers react by walking to the display and engaging with the Lovatts products on offer.

Part of our visual merchandising strategy is to guide our members to promote ranges which differentiate their businesses from others nearby – especially in the magazine space. This Lovatts display does exactly that. The supermarket near us does not have this range.

The key with any investment in real-estate and time is the return – we track this and change our approach as necessary.

Suppliers support newsXpress conference

Suppliers are lining up to support the National Newsagent Conference being organised by newsXpress for October this year. Several premium sponsorship positions have already been taken by suppliers keen to support the event.

New location available in Melbourne

Anyone looking to buy a newsagency in Melbourne should make contact with newsXpress. We have just signed an agreement with a landlord to create a new outlet in a sought-after A class shopping centre.

This is a greenfield location, an opportunity to develop the business from the ground up, around the successful principles and strategies of newsXpress.

Local area marketing workshop this week

newsXpress is hosting another Local area marketing workshop. How to grow your sales using Local Area Marketing will be held Thursday, April 16 at 10.00am EST. Our National Marketing Manager Trent Shields will provide some tools you can take back and use in your store and faacilitate a discussion between participants on local marketing experiences. Each newsXpress member who signs up will receive some pre-reading and instruction of information to bring to the meeting.

This is another free training initiative from newsXpress dexsigned to help our members grow stronger and more successful businesses.

Resolution close in newspaper distribution issues in W.A.

newsXpress members in Western Australia are pleased to see their efforts with West Australian Newspapers over many months close to paying off with resolution in site in a long running battle over distribution arrangements.

newsXpress is pleased to have helped encourage its members to fight for their rights in pursuit of more equitable arrangements on this core area of their businesses. newsXpress will support any members involved in disputes and negotiations with suppliers where members feel we can add to their voice.

Welcome newsXpress Leongatha!

The team at newsXpress Leongatha put on a great show for their opening this morning. From the owners, Peter, Debra and Dean through to the retail team, everyone was in uniform and pumped for a great day. There were showbags packed with goodies for customers, the Hallmark Bear, special deals from Darrell Lea and other suppliers, a sausage sizzle and plenty of smiles.

The shop itself felt great and looked a treat from an excellent range of cards to one of the best ranges of stationery you could find in a newsagency to a full book department to a broad range of magazines – newsXpress Leongatha is an excellent business.

Everyone at newsXpress welcomes newsXpress Leongatha to the family.

newsXpress launches 2009 national newsagent conference

newsXpress is proud to announce pre registration details for our national confercen for 2009. We are planning an exciting agenda packed with valuable learning and networking opportunities for newsagents and their staff from newsagencies of all size.

Watch for the pre registration link at our website.

Ben Kay appointed General Manager of newsXpress

newsXpress is pleased to announce the appointment of Ben Kay to the newly created role of General Manager.

In this new role, Ben will have management responsibility of all operational aspects of the newsXpress business and oversight of all newsXpress employees in addition to participating in developing future strategies within the group.

Ben Kay brings twenty years of Australian newsagency experience to the role, most recently as National Merchandise Manager for newsXpress.

“Ben has made an excellent contribution to our merchandise strategy over the last year, bringing on board new suppliers and negotiating better trading terms for our members.” said Graham Randall, Managing Director of newsXpress Pty Ltd. “In this new role we will be able to turn his mind to the broader operation of the group and help newsXpress newsagents achieve greater success.”

“I am excited to have the opportunity to broaden my role with newsXpress and help strengthen the disciplines within our newsagency marketing group.” said Ben Kay. “Now, more than ever, the need to show our differences and discipline across the group is crucial.”

newsXpress is looking to recruit a new National Merchandise Manager to replace Ben who served in that role.

The new General Manager role and associated structural changes within the company will strengthen the capacity of newsXpress to grow member numbers and, more importantly, grown grow newsXpress member business.

newsXpress understands the importance of growing sales for newsXpress members for it is this which justifies being part of the premium group.

Christmas shopping in April

The newsXpress merchandise team is in the middle of reviewing new products from existing and potential preferred suppliers for the 2009 Christmas season. This annual process is exciting and challenging because we get to see many new products from which to build our recommended core range for the season. While some products were on show at recent gift fairs, most are available only for private viewings such as those our team has been invited to.

Calendar workshop a hit

The online 2010 calendar workshop held today for newsXpress members was a success with members reviewing the 2010 range and discussing plans for ordering stock. Most newsXpress members will finalise calendar orders within the next week. The beauty of our online workshop program is that it brings members together who would otherwise not connect with each other and this challenges traditional ideas. New opportunities are always uncovered.