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Bedshed expands in the east

Sarah Stowe

Bedding franchise, Bedshed, has set its sights on the eastern states for its expansion plans, which involve opening around eight new stores per year.

The West Australian based franchise has 39 stores in total, nine of which are company owned. Seventeen stores are in Western Australia, 12 in Victoria, one in South Australia, two in NSW and seven are in Queensland.

Gavin Culmsee, Bedshed‘s chief operating officer, said while the company is set on expansion, they don’t have a solid figure in mind.

“Our intention is to really open up into NSW, where we’ve only got two stores. I don’t see much use in saying we’re going to open 100 stores by a certain time, because I think you set those goals and then struggle to achieve them.

“We want to open through a staged approach and look to open seven to eight stores a year and I think we’d be able to sustain that until I retire, given our store numbers and lack of representation in the eastern states,” he told Franchising.

Culmsee added that Bedshed is in the enviable position of being able to expand without cannibalising its existing network of stores.

“The big benefit for us and for franchisees with us is that if you look at our competitors who have 70 or 90 stores, when they open a new store it takes business away from their existing stores. For us, it’s all up. We don’t need to cannibalise existing stores to open new ones.”

Bedshed is now on the lookout for potential franchisees, who Culmsee says don’t necessarily require any bedding experience, but must be prepared to work hard for the first couple of years of business.

“[You need to] really put in to establish your business, like any small business,” he said. “And then after that time, well, we have guys here who like to have overseas holidays and live a pretty good lifestyle as established franchisees.”