Collins Booksellers
Franchise commenced:
1962

Collins Booksellers Pty Ltd is an Australian book store chain founded in 1922 by Frederick Henry Slamen. The name Collins is from the original location of the first store, 622 Collins Street, Melbourne. The company remained family owned until 2005, when it became part of a franchisee buyout of company owned stores. In 2022 the company consists of 24 franchised outlets under the brand name “Collins Booksellers”.

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Collins Booksellers is a proud Australian owned private company comprising of 26 franchised bookshops nationwide. All  stores are privately owned, locally operated and community driven to provide a specialised customer service that satisfies local, visitor and web driven sales. Collins Booksellers is proud of its Australian heritage, and the growth & expansion achieved in nearly 100 years of trading since the first doors opened in 1922.

The first store began in 1922 as a newsagency at 622 Collins Street Melbourne. Founded by Frederick Henry (Harry) Slamen it was registered in 1929 as a Proprietary Limited Company under the name Collins Book Depot when it opened two new branches at 95 Elizabeth Street and 361 Swanston Street in Melbourne. Mr Slamen remained the principal of the company until his untimely death in 1961.

Collins Booksellers embarked on an expansion program in the early 1960’s. In 1962 Collins was granted a five year license to operate a bookshop at Monash University. The early 1970’s marked Collins move into shopping centres in Northland and East Preston followed by the Westfield centre in Doncaster.

Collins embarked on national expansion in the 1970s opening new stores in Parramatta, Hornsby, Newcastle and Campbelltown followed by new Collins Booksellers stores opening in WA, QLD and the ACT. In addition to new branches in shopping centres, Collins entered other areas including book clubs, airports and then franchising in 1982.

Some of the most successful Collins Franchise shops are regional where they have become part of the local community and enjoy strong support from locals such as the Collins store in Midura.

Collins Booksellers Pty Ltd was again transformed in 2005 when the franchised stores of the entity purchased the business, intellectual property, company names and computer system from the Administrator of the previous business. Company owned stores and smaller, unprofitable outlets were closed and the group became exclusively owned by the franchisees.

Today, the company is still wholly owned by the franchisees and former franchisees. The Collins Booksellers Franchise Program continues to expand concentrating on the advantages of our competitive market positioning, particularly in regional areas. Our philosophy in franchising is to provide Collins Booksellers franchisees with the opportunity to own and operate commercially viable, profitable businesses. This is evident by our strong focus on site selection and leasing terms, as well as our franchise fee, which is lower than any other Australian book retail businesses.

Becoming a franchisee, you have access to and will benefit from the Collins Booksellers long term branding and name recognition when dealing with consumers and suppliers.

Collins Booksellers provide franchisees an extensive business package that includes training in every aspect of the business, also provide ongoing merchandising and field support and provide group advertising whilst bringing along the advantages afforded to a large buying group.

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