Howards Storage World franchise regional growth

The Howards Storage World franchise (HSW) has embarked on a 12-month period of regional growth, with the franchisor planning to open up to 10 stores in regional NSW, Queensland and Victoria in the 2005/2006 financial year.

HSW launched its first regional store in Albury, NSW in April 2005 and will be opening in Coffs Harbour this month and Cairns in September.

“Howards Storage World is targeting regional centres in the eastern seaboard states that have a population of 50,000 and above. We are canvassing interest from potential franchisees in these centres and identifying potential sites,” says HSW CEO, Dirk Spence.

Key cities and towns that have been earmarked by HSW include Wagga Wagga, Port Macquarie, Ballina and Lismore in NSW, Rockhampton, Mackay, Toowoomba and Townsville in Queensland, and Bendigo and Ballarat in Victoria.

Howards Storage World, a specialist retailer of storage solutions for the home, is making the same product offering available in regional centres, however it will be utilising a combination of sites from strip locations and stand-alone stores through to leasing space in shopping centres. The new Albury store is HSW’s first strip location and the Cairns store, which opens later this year, will be a 700 square metre stand-alone store.

“The Albury franchise was our first strip location and signalled a departure from the shopping centre model used for our city franchise stores. The strip location in Albury is working very successfully and will be used more widely in regional centres,” says HSW franchise manager, John Watt.

Howards Storage World is currently undertaking a series of free information seminars across regional centres, providing people who are interested in franchising with information about the retail concept.