Australian Newsagency Blog

We have just finished the third week of our book sale at Frankston and Forest Hill and it is working a treat in both locations. Sales have been excellent, especially through school holidays. What we are running is the newsXpress book strategy.
While we have had success putting books on a table […]

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The stand in the photo is very successful. The return on the real-estate and stock is excellent, above many other departments. Our discount novel customers are loyal and efficient - more than 50% of sales include items from at least one other department. Most customers are regulars in buying books and they sometimes […]

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We setup book sales in Frankston and Forest Hill yesterday and as these things usually go, customers were buying stock as we opened the boxes.  In each store we did close to $500.  For a Tuesday without any external marketing this is good for setup day.

We know from our experience that the best way to […]

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The announcement yesterday to the NZSX by A&R Whitcoulls about their takeover of the Borders assets sheds some light on their plan:
A&R Whitcoulls Group Managing Director, Ian Draper, said that the Borders business is complementary to the Company’s existing assets, offering a different format from Angus & Robertson in Australia and Whitcoulls in NewZealand.
“Borders’ […]

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If CNN Money (and a bunch of other news services) is right, A&R Whitcoulls, the business owned by Pacific Equity Partners and which owns Supanews, is set to acquire the the Borders Australian, New Zealand and Singaporean businesses.  The implications of this move for newsagents is significant and I am sure will be felt for […]

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Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, is reported as saying that 6% of titles sold by Amazon.com are for its Kindle e-book reader.   That is a significant shift from print in the short time Kindle has been out.

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Joe Wickert has published a review of the new Borders concept store in Indiana.  What sounds interesting about the model is their use of technology kiosks for to sell music and other products.

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More fool us I guess. We took on the Bake cookbook published under the Australian Women’s Weekly brand. We knew the majors would have it but did not expect Big W to sell it at 50% off. Yes, more fool us I guess. The folks at ACP would know the deal […]

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We continue to find gems in the book sale we’re running, like The First World War by Hew Strachan. Heading toward Anzac Day it’s a popular gift - ten copies in a couple of days. We can’t claim all the credit since we don’t control the titles in the mix. However, we […]

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We were pretty excited to discover that one of the books in our book sale is in the latest Big W catalogue and that we beat their we sell for less price. Our price is 19% lower than Big W - and we still making a good margin. Sure it’s only one product […]

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There are plenty of rumors circulating about the future of Borders bookstores in Australia.  One is that the A&R Whitcoulls deal is not as dead as reported in the press.  Since it has regulatory approval in New Zealand and Australia the only issue appears to be the structure of the deal.

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Harper Collins is providing free access to the full manuscript of Double or Nothing, the true story of two friends who bought a Las Vegas casino. This is a bold move for a publisher, one I’m surprised to see from a mainstream publisher. Good on them!
Anyone can read them manuscript free at the […]

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A couple of days after our Ink promotion ended our book sale started. Like the ink promotion, the book sale was promoted through flyers delivered to homes around our shopping centre - for all three of our newsagencies. Daily revenue from the book sale is between $400.00 and $750.00. This is […]

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The news out of the UK for Borders is not good. The Telegraph and others are reporting that the whole business is for sale and not just selected parts.
A week back we learned that the A&R Whitcoulls bid had been withdrawn for the Australian and New Zealand operations of Borders.
While it would never get […]

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I am told that Easter is one of the best times of the year to sell books. Judging by the first two days of our book sale I’m inclined to agree.  Even before the brochures have been distributed sales are strong - over $300 for the first half day.
Our plan is to run the […]

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The Biggest Loser cookbook has arrived in time for the start of the new TV series on Network Ten so we’re featuring it at the counter.
While I am unhappy that we are not making traditional bookseller margin on this title, my goal is to sell the stock I have while interest is high and before […]

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My initial reaction upon seeing Sudoku for Dummies was that newsagents cannot compete on price with bookshops. Then the text, Australian Newsagency Edition, was pointed out to me.
Having a Newsagency Edition allows us to promote this as an exclusive title. It also stops price comparison.
Newsagents ought to actively promote their exclusivity with […]

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