Category: newsXpress difference

Christmas is a great time to sell tape, especially with Christmas cards and wrap as well as at the counter.  newsXpress negotiated a very special offer for Christmas tape in an easy to sell unit, from 3M.  The exceptional discount off wholesale closed yesterday.  Our members were able to lock in deals which will help add good margin to Christmas 2009 sales thanks to the work pout in by our merchandise team.

Our merchandise team focuses in finding excellent product as well as excellent deals, especially for everyday items which sell easily in newsagencies.  This tape deal is one such deal.

newsXpress has announced its June Market Fair dates.  At these fairs, members will be presented with excellent stock purchase opportunities, many of which will be exclusive to the Market Fair event.  The Market Fairs are excellent for buying and terrific for experiencing the newsXpress difference as we have a members meeting and networking session associated with them.

Access to the Market Fairs is by registratrion only.  This is done online through our smart website.

A 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.

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.

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 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.

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.