Back to Previous

Beaumont Tiles: 65 new stores and overseas expansion

Sarah Stowe

Inside Franchise Business: Beaumont Tiles' distribution centreRetail franchise chain Beaumont Tiles plans to grow its Australian footprint from 115 stores to 180 outlets and take its brand overseas.

Most of the 65 new Australian stores will be franchised businesses, according to CEO Bob Beaumont.

Beaumont told Inside Franchise Business “there is plenty of opportunity within Australia, and opportunity for sales within each store to grow as well”.

Staff development is the key to strong sales growth, he said. “We already have very good marketing. I think we can develop our people to be stronger and better than they already are.”

This year the retailer is launching an IT system that will act as the base for any future business.

“We plan to grow substantially over the next four to five years and then we can use this as a launch pad to extend the brand overseas.”

As yet there are no specific countries targeted for expansion, but the dedicated team working on exporting the brand have pinpointed Asia and north America as potential regions.

“We believe by bringing together the disparate parts of the business, particularly the IT this year, we can build on this package, transfer and adapt it.

“We will have to be flexible but strong enough to withstand any environment.”

Beaumont identifies the challenges ahead to be developing a system that takes a client through the sales process to delivery and payment, integrating all aspects.

“We also need to be able to plug in marketing, web, IT based training and payroll – any system in a different country.

“The big one is logistics but we’re set up already with worldwide sourcing so its not such a big step there.”