Category: newsXpress difference

The newsXpress community helps each other

diary_collins.JPGA newsXpress member put out a call for a Collins Debden Colplan 51 Planner Diary for a customer a week ago in the hope that another newsXpress member might have one still in stock.  Two days later they received the diary in the mail.  The customer was thrilled to receive the diary and surprised at the extraordinary lengths newsXpress went to to find the right diary and get it to them.

newsXpress members often help each other in this way – reinforcing the value of being part of a community of colleagues.

Transparency with newsXpress members

We have just completed a national tour of member meetings which included a discussion of revenue and expenses for newsXpress.  The Board outlined our income sources including supplier rebates as well as how this money is spent.  The presentation was followed by member questions about the group financials.

This transparency is important and reflects the commitment the Board gave at our National Conference late last year.   There will be another finance report from the Board in a cycle of member meetings later this year.

newsXpress appoints National Merchandise Manager

nx_kay_henderson.JPGnewsXpress is pleased to announce the appointment of Robert Henderson to the role of National Merchandise Manager. Robert brings years of stationery supplier experience to this key role, most recently as National Sales & Marketing Manager for the Pentel Group. In this role, Robert directly managed national retailer accounts and managed the team which worked with newsagents.

“This appointment completes a planned and strategic extension of the merchandise strategy for our 168 member newsagency marketing group.” commented Graham Randall, Managing Director of newsXpress. “newsXpress is leading newsagents to a strong future.”

As National Merchandise Manager for newsXpress, Robert will be responsible for developing merchandise strategy, establishing new supplier relationships and enhancing existing arrangements.

“I look forward to bringing to newsXpress members excellent opportunities from the kinds of supplier relationships you deserve when you have a retail network of 168 proactive retail locations.” said Robert Henderson.

“Enhancing the strategic management of our merchandise offer has been in the planning since last year” said Ben Kay, General Manager of newsXpress Pty Ltd. “Robert will provide newsXpress and its members with strategy and offers which will excite the channel”.

Robert Henderson commences his new role with newsXpress mid May.

newsXpress has a merchandise team with expertise in stationery, calendars, gifts, electronic services and circulation product. This rounded representation ensures that the company provides its members with strategy which reflects the history of the channel yet is focused on the future.

PHOTO: Ben Kay, newsXpress General Manager left and Robert Henderson, new National Merchandise Manager right.

Uniball joins newsXpress as a preferred supplier

Respected pen supplier to newsagents Uniball has signed on as a preferred supplier for newsXpress stores. Uniball will bring to newsXpress members special offers, low every day pricing and other support which will help drive sales of their products. newsXpress will support the Uniball range with in-store range guidance and training in pursuit of excellent returns for our members and for Uniball.

Victorian member meeting a hit

nx_vic_mtg_apr09.JPGWe had a full house at our newsXpress Victorian member’s meeting yesterday.  The excellent attendance was matched by excellent participation when we met as a whole group and when we broke into four smaller groups for the more intense business to business discussion.

As happened in Brisbane two days ago, members shared terrific business insights with each other, insights which are certain to result in excellent business developments.

Great things happen when you get proactive forward-thinking newsagents in a room together to talk about and work on their businesses.  newsXpress corporately and individual members have to do lists which will significantly enhance business performance.

newsXpress members work on business

nx_member_meet_bne_apr09.jpgThe 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.

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.

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.

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!

newsxpress_leongatha.jpgThe 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.

Ben Kay appointed General Manager of newsXpress

ben_kay.JPGnewsXpress 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.

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.

Thanks for bushfire support

yea_young.jpgnewsXpress received thanks last week for supplying eight pallets of stationery to students in Yea affected by the recent bushfires in Victoria.  Our contribution was driven and co-ordinated through Ted Loader of newsXpress Young and was instigated by the students of Young High School.  Roger and Lesley Bortfield, newsXpress Business Development Managers for NSW drove our involvement and support.

This is an excellent story for all involved.  It shows heartfelt concern by one group of high school students for another and how one town can rally around that concern to help another community in need.  The returned thanks is also recognition of the effort of all involved.

newsXpress is pleased to have had an opportunity to be part of the community effort.  We serve in communities across Australia and appreciate opportunities to help in practical ways.

New Business Development Manager appointed in Victoria

michael_elvey.jpgnewsXpress has appointed Michael Elvey to the role of Business Development Manager of Victoria and Tasmania.

Michael brings more than twelve years experience working in newsagencies in an operational capacity and helping newsagencies in a senior management role with Tower Systems.

“I have had the privilege of working with Michael in newsXpress newsagencies over the last two weeks in NSW and Victoria and have seen his expertise first-hand. His knowledge and approach to helping our members will help newsXpress grow in Victoria and Tasmania.” said Roger Bortfield, NSW/ACT Business Development Manager.

In the business development role, Michael will help newsXpress members develop more successful businesses around the exclusive strategies offered by newsXpress nationally through regular in-store meetings with newsXpress members.

“Michael has the knowledge and discipline necessary to helping newsXpress members and newsXpress as a company maintain its position as the strongest newsagency retail group in Australia. He is a welcome addition to our team.” said Graham Randall, Managing Director of newsXpress Pty Ltd.

Michael Elvey commenced his new role with newsXpress today.

Training in how to make money from calendars

newsXpress is hosting an online training session for members tomorrow, April 7 at 10am, on Making The Most from 2010 Calendars.  This free online session training is in addition to face to face and over the phone assistance provided to newsXpress members who want to maximise their calendar opportunity in the 2010 calendar season.

By hosting an online session we are able to bring members together from various states and thereby facilitate a broader cross-section of views on calendar opportunities.

We have members who have increased the bottom line contribution from calendars from $1,000 to more than $10,000 in one year by following our advice from ordering toprice management to retail display.  The advice from our calendar expert, Michelle Caia, is a keyfactor of the success of our members in the calendar category.

newsXpress strategies drive growth

newsXpress is reviewing the performance of several newsagencies which joined our group in the last three months of 2008 and which have embraced newsXpress exclusive offers. The results are staggering.

In one store we are seeing an improvement in gross profit of 20% in the first three months of 2009. Most of this is from new categories we have introduced to the business.

Another new newsXpress member is reporting increasing gross profit from around $1,000 to close to $10,000 in a category they previously ran in the traditional way. Last year, newsXpress introduced new suppliers and significantly better margin – driving the reported improvement in profit contribution.

The key to achieving such excellent results is engagement. We have several key product category offers backed by management strategies which will be successful. The key message we repeat around these offers is trust the process. Those who do trust the process have more money in the bank as a result.

This is another example of the newsXpress difference. We are happy to share specific location details, with permission, with prospective newsXpress members.