Supanews, Australia’s only newsagency franchise, is currently selecting franchisees to join their exciting and successful retail franchise chain.
Newsagencies have long been one of Australia’s most successful and prolific small business industries. Most retail industries have seen significant change over the last ten or twenty years with the development of strong national chains. In the meantime, the newsagency industry has remained relatively unchanged. As an industry of more than 4000 independent business owners the industry has actually become quite fractured and there are probably more poor newsagents than there are good. Despite this, newsagencies are still strong businesses. But can it be done better?
Adrian Gaskin passionately believed that newsagencies could be at the very leading edge of retailing excellence when he developed the Supanews brand in the mid 1990s. His goal was to create the best newsagency possible. It worked, and he more than doubled the sales of the previous owner. His successful methodology allowed Adrian to open another business and then another. By 2004 his business had grown to 19 newsagencies in QLD and NSW.
It was at that point, however, that the business reached an impasse. “We were a family business and I’d run out of kids to help me run the businesses!” says Gaskin. “We had plenty of opportunities for new stores, yet we needed to find another way to grow the business while still maintaining the fundamentals that had made us successful”. To realise the opportunities presented, Adrian developed and launched a full business model franchise in late 2004. In doing so, he created the first and currently only
business services franchise operating within the newsagency industry.
By 2006 Supanews had grown to over 30 stores. In late 2006 Supanews entered a joint venture with the ARW group, which owns and operates the Angus & Robertson book chain in Australia and the iconic Whitcoulls retail chain in New Zealand. This much larger business consisted of 270 stores with a combined turnover exceeding $500 million per annum. The alliance further strengthened the Supanews business by taking advantage of the better buying power and intellectual know-how of ARW.
With 20 franchisees and 40 stores operating in New South Wales and Queensland, Supanews is now ready to ramp up its growth. With Gaskin at the helm Supanews are set to replicate the same strategies that initially made Supanews such a success. “Much of our current and future growth is going to be achieved via acquisition. That is, we will be buying independent newsagencies and applying the Supanews methodology including store design, marketing, systems and our better buying power to make them stronger.” When a franchisee takes them over, the store has had five or ten years of trading history and so the risk is minimal.”
The franchise selection process at Supanews, including training, takes about three months. Time is taken to ensure that applicants fully understand the business and have the right stuff to make a success of the business. “We let them touch it, feel it and smell it. They’re far better off coming in beforehand and experiencing what is going to happen. We believe they need to understand, warts and all, what they’re going to do” says Gaskin.
As published in Business Franchise Magazine May/June 2008.
26-May-2008