newsXpress Shellharbour were right into St Patrick’s Day will all the green merchandise: Hallmark packaging; bags; wrap; ribbon; themed cards; and newsXpress point of sale.
CANSON RELATIONSHIP GOING FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
newsXpress Kallangur has just embraced the Canson partnership both the exclusive creative centre and the high quality cardboard range. Not only does it look fabulous in store and acts as a beacon for customers to draw them to the back of the store it has freshened the store up and reinvigorated a good high st location.
Happy Easter!
The team at newsXpress Deception Bay wish all their customers a Happy Easter.
Pictured are Joanne, Amy, and Alex holding Poppie.
The multi faceted life of a newsagent
Success comes in many ways for newsXpress stores and their families.
newsXpress Westpoint is using a television stand to promote their Partwork series, currently the Elvis Partworks is selling exceptionally well with help from the DVD.
The windows sell massive amounts of giftware, the Easter Display is facing both outside and inside, with attractive cutouts adding to the display.
Mark’s daughter Tiarne was delighted with her success in the District Swimming Competition. One proud dad! Well done Tiarne!
Mr Hallmark joins newsXpress!…….
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Ron Thorpe as the newsXpress retail groups Director of Greeting Card Strategy.
Ron comes to us with over 40 years of experience working for Hallmark cards. Ron will work part-time out of the Melbourne office and will be responsible for developing exclusive strategies for newsXpress members in the greeting card space.
Ron with ‘Mr newsXpress‘ and group Chariman Graham Randall & Mark Nagy CEO
Easter by the Bay
newsXpress Frankston has taken creativity to a new level in their Easter promotion. Introducing several new lines of confectionery and plush they realised they lacked a suitable area to merchandise this product.
However outside of the square thinking by manager Simon Frost quickly saw an opportunity where one previously did not exist. And thus a previously unsightly load bearing pillar was promptly wrapped in gold paper and made a visually stunning display prop.
Member Meetings around Australia
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.
WA newsXpressers
QLD newsXpressers
VIC newsXpressers
Variety is the spice of life at newsXpress Eumundi
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.
Canson Art at Scott’s Lismore
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.
VANA BALL – OH WHAT A NIGHT! Part II
Some further photos have shown up from what was a fantastically well attended (300 +) industry function. Enjoy!
From left to right: Karen Sutton (Business Development Manager), Andrew & Jacqui Ryan (newsXpress Ivanhoe) and Michelle Caia (Category Manager Seasons & Gifts)
From left to right: Craig Lawlor (newsXpress Greenvale) and the photogenic Karen Sutton (Business Development Manager)
From left to right: Garry Angus (newsXpress Pall Mall), Karen Sutton (Business Development Manager), Graham Randall (Director Business Development) & Mark Nagy (CEO)
newsXpress Ballarat aligning with success
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.
MR newsXpress BEACON BRANDING
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.
Hot Golf from team newsXpress at the VANA Golf Day
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.
From left to right: Phil Johnson, Ian Urquhart, Gary Angus, Chris Samartzis & Francis Bourke
newsXpress/Hallmark Alliance providing great market data for members
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.
LOCAL MEMBER MEETINGS & SHARING INFORMATION
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 newsXpress members meeting 11/03/08
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.
Display solutions at newsXpress Glendale
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.
newsXpressers at play
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:
- A break from the insular stress of your own four walls
- An opportunity to look upon other retail businesses with fresh eyes
- A clear message of independence and responsibility to your team
- The realisation that the world goes on without you (while this can provide a kick to your ego, it is just about the most important message to learn in business).
- A chance to live your life and indulge in your outside interests and passions
- Spend more time with family & friends
- Renewed vigour and focus when you are at work
- And many more…
If anyone is interested in joining in on the next event, please do not hesitate to contact us at nxpcommcentre@newsxpress.com.au
newsXpress Canning Vale leverage local resource
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.
Gifts to the nth degree
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.