Category: Stationery

When shopping for back to school supplies for this year, please consider shopping at your local newsagency. Local newsagents live and serve the local community, they are connected, often helping local community groups.

Buying back to school products from your local newsagent is a wonderful way of supporting the local community and the groups that support it.

We urge parents, schools and others … if you are shopping for back to school stationery items this year, please shop thoughtfully, shop for back to school at your local newsagent.

Here are our back to school shopping tips:

Shop locally, from your local newsagency, in your community.

Support the local businesses local community groups are likely to call on.

If you have a choice, choose locally made items.

Buy what you need, don’t be tricked by a volume price deal that may see you buy items you will later waste.

See price guarantees for what they are – lazy marketing from businesses that don’t put in the hard work.

Quality is more important than price.

A price difference may not be what it seems. It could be due to lesser quality, or the supplier not supporting your community groups or the supplier sourcing products made in a cheap labour country, which does not help local Aussie jobs.

Newsagents are usually in the first businesses to be asked by community groups and schools for donations. It is unreasonable to do this unless you help them win business. This is just one reason your shopping local for back to school products matters.

Beware claims of big savings. One major stationery business is currently claiming that parents are saving on average more than 25% by shopping with them. This is a business that makes genuine price comparison difficult because of the volume of house brand product. I know of several newsagents who have price checked for local families and found the difference to be less than 5%.

Back to school is, for sure, an expensive time for families. Saving money is appealing. However, it is critical to be sure that the savings are real and that money you are spending benefits the economy on which you rely.

A small higher price could be for better quality product, local community group support, school support or for supporting local jobs, thereby putting money in the local economy, which helps fund, maybe local jobs on which school parents themselves rely.

Yes, the economy is that circular.

newsXpress helps local newsagents grow interesting and diverse businesses that are usually not your traditional newsagency. Come check us out, look for the brand.

Storytime. Hazel put 3 writing pad and envelope sets on the counter. “I’ll make letter writers out of the grandkids yet,” she said with a smile. “Even if I have to bribe them.”

Hazel’s plan was to give the grandkids a money gift for each letter she receives, up to $5 depending on how she rates the letter. They can send a letter each fortnight, no more often than that.

She writes back with the gift and a note of her own.

Hazel has been doing this for 3 months and it is working. The kids are getting better at writing and Hazel is enjoying going to her letterbox.

We love hearing how people are finding new ways to connect these days.

Storytime. Susie put four scrapbooks, a couple of glue sticks, some glitter and a couple of packs of colour markers in front of me at the counter saying “that will keep the terrors busy this weekend.” Susie was a young mum with 4 kids between 6 and 12 years old. She called the kids “the terrors” when she was shopping without them. “What’s the plan?”, I asked. “Iso scrapbooks.” Susie seemed pleased with her answer, but she could tell from the look on my face that I didn’t get it. “Twenty, thirty, forty years from now I want them to have a memory of what these few months this year have been like, so this weekend we’re making scrapbooks.” “What about you and Rob?”, I wondered, before grabbing two more scrapbooks and added them to the pile – “hey, these 2 are on me as long as you bring them all back and show me.”

Scrapbooks leave the shop blank and empty. Soon, they become keepsakes, treasure troves of memories.

Storytime. “Have you got a large financial year diary left by any chance?” The question itself would be unsurprising except that it was already late April and we were two months from the start of the new financial year. He saw the consternation in my face. “It doesn’t have to be large, but I’d prefer it if possible.”

After looking in the bottom shelves that we keep meaning to tidy up I found a large financial year diary and handed it to the sixty-something customer. He flicked through it, drew it to his chest and smiled in relief.

After he paid and started to leave, he came back to the counter, holding up the diary. “It’s going to be the guest book for my dad’s memorial.” “I’m so sorry,” I said. “It’s okay. He was 91 and ready. He was an accountant, a good accountant, and we, the family, wanted to acknowledge that at the memorial, so I figured this diary would be a nice touch, and a keepsake for us.”

As he left, I stood there once again surprised at how little we know about how people use what we sell.