Australian Newsagency Blog

We have Darrell Lea’s Mum’s Bags at the front of our newsagency as part of our Mother’s Day offer. While they are visually attractive, they don’t pop as they have in years past. These Darrell Lea gift bags are an important part of the seasonal gift mix for us since the retailers around […]

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Wow, if the merger proceeds they are likely to become what the Motley Fool calls a confection powerhouse. Newsagents are challenged when dealing with these mega FMCG suppliers: Mars, Wrigley, Cadbury. We want to have their products because they are what consumers know yet we cannot negotiate terms which enable us to be […]

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Despite a stunning display, Easter eggs did not work as well at our Frankston store as we expected.
It was our first Easter since buying this business and eggs were a new category for the business. We did a best guess purchase and got it wrong. What is odd is that we took the […]

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Darrell Lea came up with some nice looking packaging for their Easter egg product. The design was let down by poor adhesive - many boxes popped open, exposing chocolate and making some product unsaleable. Darrell Lea sent out double sided tape to fix the problem but to use this retailers had to put their […]

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Now that the heat in Melbourne is finally fading people apparently think it’s safe to buy Easter eggs.
With more than $20,000 invested in easter chocolate across a few stores I’m relieved. Some customers coming to the counter with an armful of eggs said the heat made them hold back.
Sales were great yesterday and I’d […]

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We have a new range of small pads at the counter and, as with the last range they are selling well. They work better for us than major brand candy – because they are unique to us in our centre whereas many others sell the major brand candy around us.
At my Frankston newsagency, where […]

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It’s been a bit of a scramble over the weekend keeping easter eggs cool.  Not only in Melbourne but Adelaide too.  No one wants a melted Easter egg.

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Our Frankston newsagency has a column in front of the counter. It impedes traffic and is an eyesore. That’s one view. As the photo shows, there is another way to see this column – as something to be embraced and made a hero.
Simon, manager of the store, came up with the […]

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The Darrel Lea Easter egg range is drawing attention.  The photo below shows around half the range we have in store.  We have it on the dance floor, right at the front of the shop - nest to our range of Easter cards.

We made a decision a couple of years ago to promote aggressively at […]

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Easter is close and we have our Darrell Lea range out including this Thomas The Tank package. It includes an activity as well as the egg which is good. I’m curious about the management of brands such as Thomas since we access the eggs from one place, cards and bags from another, books […]

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A dark cloud hung over Valentine’s Day for some German candy makers, the German Federal Cartel Office raided the offices of seven of them. The International Herald Tribune has the details. This follows similar activity in Canada three months ago.  Very interesting.
In the meantime, back here, newsagencies I have spoken with tell me […]

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We’re applying to a couple of councils for permission to sell prepackaged sealed confectionery. The process is a bureaucratic mess - wasteful busy work. This is prepackaged confectionery for goodness sake. It frustrates me how councils waste small business time and money on these things.

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Valentine’s Day is an opportunity to shine around the Darrell Lea brand. These boxes of chocolates work very well next to the card display. I especially like that the folks at Darrell Lea have provided the range with a slim stand - to enable it to fit with greeting card and other […]

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These small chocolate lips are selling well at the counter. They are part of our Valentine’s office at the lottery counters and our main sales counter.

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