Australian Newsagency Blog

We have had our own small warehouse a few doors down from our head office since late last year. With three newsagencies and four card and gift shops to serve, the warehouse is making it easier for us to buy as a group and better manage stock. Instead of holding stock at the […]

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Vienna Chen, graphic extraordinaire at Tower Systems, has created the artwork for a Chirstmas greeting for me…
 
I asked for the Christmas tree to be heading out to sea.  Not sure why.

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Click here to see a copy of the newsletter we have available for customers out the front of our newsagency this month. 

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We are launching a TV commercial on channels Seven and Ten in Melbourne next week to launch our expanded Sophie Randall card and gift shops. The commercial has been created to reflect a warm and personal style associated with Sophie. Click on the image below to see a copy of the ad as […]

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We had a good October at Forest Hill.  Overall, sales were up 6% on last year.  This is despite magazines and lotteries recording a dip.  Greeting cards delivered excellent growth.
What is most interesting is the continued shift away from what have been traditional lines for our newsagency.  Gifts, books, calendars, art supplies and ink all […]

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It is disappointing that a few commenters at this blog spew hatred instead of rational comment.  The comments posted on Thursday evening by one person using seven different names served to make himself or herself look stupid and for readers to therefore disregard their view.
The purpose of my original post was to open a discussion […]

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I was playing with Wordle yesterday - a website which creates a word cloud based on the content of a website. Here is what it came up with based on the content at this blog:

Wordle gives greater prominence to words that appear more frequently.

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We have recorded a strong third quarter at Forest Hill - up 8% in non agency revenue compared to the same quarter in 2007. Excellent growth has been achieved in the good margin departments of cards, books, gifts, art and ink. Magazines are line ball - this is a good result given that […]

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My software company, Tower Systems, has been delivering free online training and user meetings this year in addition to the seventy or or face to face user meetings around the country. The online series is proving to be a great success with close to full attendance at most sessions. We have a cap of fifteen […]

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POS Solutions Director Bernard Zimmermann published the following false and misleading information at his company’s blog today:
The managing director of tower systems Mark Fletcher complained that his company, might be tainted though Kellie-Ann’s actions. I agree. Our complaint was against her actions and nothing else.
Note I have done what checks I can on her. I […]

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The first day of the GNS Market Fair in Melbourne was good. While I don’t know official numbers, our feeling is that it was busier than for the Saturday last year. It is a great opportunity to catch up with newsagent clients more so than to sell - especially since most newsagents buying […]

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Click here for a copy of the July newsletter from our Sophie Randall card and gift business. We use learnings from our Sophie business to guide gift department decisions in our newsagencies even though a Sophie store and a newsagency attract very different customers.

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For transparency, I post below a copy of an announcement today about our new shareholding in Access International, the company behind the Aussie Phonecard.  I have been impressed with Aussie for some time - the 30% commission it pays newsagents, the quality of call on the cards and the real value to consumers.  It’s not […]

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January-May at Forest Hill looks good compared to January-May 2007. Number of sales is up 4%; Average sale value is up 16% - as a result of selling more items and some for a better price. We focus on traffic, items and margin - nothing smart in that.
While of magazines are up […]

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The extended Tower Systems family grew today with the arrival of Gypsy Rose May, a second child for Simon May, our Technical Services Manager, and his wife April. Gypsy is a welcome sister for James. Born this morning at 9:41am, Gypsy weighs 3.2Kg and measures 47cm. Gypsy and Mum are well. Dad is over […]

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Thomas T, Mary Perna, Mark Anonymous, Ron Johnson, and Robbie Mascon, a specific group of people who have posted comments here over the last two months, are all posting from the same IP address.  This suggests they are either living together, working at the same office or that they are all the same person.  The […]

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Our Sophie Randall cards and gifts business is expanding to a location on Toorak Road, Toorak.  Documents have been signed and the design of the new location is almost complete.  Our hope is for an opening some time in late June.
Sophie is the card and gift model we are developing through newsXpress as a complimentary […]

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Comments can be posted here again thanks to the efforts of our tech team. We had issues last week following a malicious attack against the server on which the blog is hosted.

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I apologise that posting comments is a challenge at the moment.  This is a consequence of the malicious attack on our server this week.  They should be back up Monday by the latest.

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This blog has had a rough couple of days. Our shared server has been under attack from external forces and this has knocked us offline.

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We’re looking for someone to join our Frankston team to help manage the magazine arrival work Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  The total hours each week will be around twenty.  I you know someone who is reliable and looking for a long term (i.e. more than two months!) role please have them email simonf@towersystems.com.au.
It is frustrating […]

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Tower Systems is hosting a  national series of face to face (free) newsagent user meetings starting this. We will demonstrate new features in the latest update of lour software, provide free training and answer technical questions.  Bookings are made by email: bookings@towersystems.com.au.

Hobart – Thursday, May 8 – 10am
Launceston – Friday, May […]

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I was in the kitchen at our newsXpress Forest Hill store yesterday for the first time in a while and admired the view through the window. Looking down on the water … mmm, very inviting. For a second or two I thought it was real. Behind the stuck on photo of […]

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My software company, Tower Systems, has two vacancies for new roles we have just created in our Melbourne office.  I am posting details here in case you know someone who may be interested.
IT support.  This is a demanding non-traditional Help Desk role.  In say non-traditional because the call variety is considerable.  We are looking for […]

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We are having a box of fruit delivered each Monday for our retail team. The cost is around $25 a week for a box of premium quality fruit. This promotes healthy eating and, demonstrates our commitment to the team.

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