Australian Newsagency Blog

Darrell Lea is using smart attractive counter units, as shown in the photo, to help us introduce new products at the counter and thereby drive impulse purcahses.  The Espresso Crunch is a stylish looking product.  We have it at our lottery counter where we know Darrell Lea product sells well.  Now if only they would […]

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Further to my blog post Friday about gum sales falling in newsagencies, the latest issue of Convenience World magazine reports that confectionery sales were up 2.6% in c-stores in the March quarter.  While this does not break gum out, even for the overall category, c-stores are reporting better numbers than newsagents.
While I am no expert […]

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Digging deeper into the newsagency sales benchmark study I recently completed, I have found that sales of chewing gum fell by more than 15% in the sample group of newsagencies.  80% of newsagencies participating in the benchmark study reported declines.
While I am not a chewer of gum, I am surprised by this result.

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Click on the image to see a larger version of the Chocolatier Easter Egg display our team has created at our Sophie Randall Melbourne Central store. Customers entering the store are greeted with this table. We experiment at our Sophie stores with fixtures and display concepts with a view to using these in […]

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I was surprised to receive the email today announcing that magazine distributor NDD is to distribute Sultry Sally potato chips.  Magazines and potato chips are an odd mix.  This brand launched in Safeway and Woolworths earlier this year.  While some newsagents would be happy with a supermarket line, I am more included to hunt out chips not […]

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Chewing gum is the most efficient segment of the confectionery department in the newsagencies from what I have seen in recent sales data. Sales are strong, stock turn good and return on real-estate excellent. Gum outperforms chocolate bars in return on investment in the stores for which I have data. This is because […]

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Our Forest Hill team has rejigged our counter now that our Darrell Lea Christmas stock has arrived. Even though margin on Darrell Lea is slimmer than magazines, it is an important range to have here at the front of the shop next to our main lottery counter.
This display attracts good impulse business […]

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This new gingerbread product we have found for Halloween brilliant designs and a great taste. This is a perfect counter offer to fit with our Halloween promotion. From what we understand, we are the first newsagency to offer this line. We are looking forward to seeing how it performs. Our fall […]

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The small range of Darrell Lea confectionery and the colourful pads from For Arts Sake are proving to be the best counter offer at our Forest Hill store.  While we have short-term feature product on the counter proper, these two rows of products are consistent performers.  They have good price points and are easily understood […]

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We received our Darrell Lea Father’s Day stock late Friday afternoon.  Based on sales of Father’s Day stock prior to Friday we should have had this out at least a week and probably two weeks ago.

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The photo shows one of our Father’s Day displays in our Frankston newsagency. This particular display is for our range of Morish confectionery including the popular Dad’s Nuts bag. I like the products and the display because they pitch a significant point of difference from the retailers around us and a significant departure […]

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Dad’s Nuts from Morish gets my vote for the best Father’s Day product for 2008. The name is brilliant, value fantastic, product quality excellent and the packaging stunning. Customers are loving Dad’s Nuts. I have spoken to several newsagencies and sales are good. When I first heard the name I thought people would react […]

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Some suppliers just don;t get the importance of theatre in retail. While we have had our Father’s Day cards out for two weeks, and they are selling well, some suppliers are yet to get stock for this season to us. One supplier, Darrell Lea, tells us it will be another ten days before […]

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Three new products from Darrell Lea are a welcome addition. They lend themselves to location at the counter as impulse items even though the company prefers us to use their fixturing. They’re selling well. The packaging reminds me of Thorntons brand.

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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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