Australian Newsagency Blog

We are promoting The Classic Australian Movie Collection partwork at the counter position usually reserved for magazines with a free gift. With this new partwork in its second on-sale week we wanted to attract as much interest into the weekend as possible. Also, we currently have no other title in-store with a giveaway which […]

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One challenge with the launch of Grazia this week is finding space in the tightly packed women’s weeklies magazine display. We have created a new column by trimming the top two pockets of full waterfall displays. While some publishers may not be happy, it will not affect the sale of their products.

We will […]

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Newsagents in Melbourne ought to find time to get to C-Store 2008 at the exhibition centre today or tomorrow.  Tower Systems has a stand and I was in there today to check out the event.  C-Store is an excellent trade show for newsagents because it presents new product opportunities and better ways to merchandise traditional […]

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Our team at Frankston has created a display for Sharpie pens near our Grazia feature display. This double-sided movable display is promoting the David Beckham competition supporting the Sharpie range. People drawn to the Grazia display (see the red carpet leading to this) see the Sharpie display as they head to the counter.  Promoting […]

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At our Frankston newsagency, Simon and the team have gone all out to launch Grazia.  They hired red carpet and created ssveral great displays.  Yesterday, all team members dressed formally.  Simon also created a fashion parade video which plays on a loop above the main Grazia display.  There is a small clip from the Grazia […]

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We have created a second display to promote the launch of Grazia at Forest Hill at our counter.  Unlike the display in my previous post, this display uses the colour materials provided by the publisher.  This counter position is the most successful and valuable magazine display space in our shop.  Last week, we increased sales […]

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Work started three days ago on a new Sophie Randall card and gift shop in Toorak. This will be our fourth Sophie store, the first opened in February last year.
This shop has its challenges: 60 sq metres, round in shape, 70% of all walls glass, two entrances, no back room and a column right […]

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Office Depot, the US office supplies chain, has opened its first “green” store - in Texas. The press release from the company claims “green” status on the basis of energy and water use efficiencies built into the store and the range of “green” products it will offer customers. This is a point of […]

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For years the Australian Women’s Weekly cookbooks owned the cookbook segment in newsagencies.  Now, they account for half the sales thanks to other titles and magazines which satisfy the interest through special themed issues.  With retail space, especially in shopping centres, costing so much, we need to allocate space carefully.  We have not reviewed our […]

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The Globe and Mail has a story about newsstands closing in Canada. Newsagents should read this. Not to get depressed but to understand the need for retail reinvention.
Sure media disruption is impacting the newsagency / newsstand business. My view is that the bigger impact is our channel’s failure to invest in our […]

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Now that we have the local edition of Top Gear, the question is what do we do with the UK edition which is being airfreighted out? In my newsagencies we will carry both. Top Gear is a strong franchise and the UK magazine has a good following which will not be significantly hurt […]

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Our display for Gardening Australia at the counter is two days old and sales achieved from this point are four times what we would usually achieve in the first two on-sale days for this title.  I put the success down to a great cover and feature (on Peter Cundall) promoted in the right place for […]

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The latest issue of Vogue India is out today and I took the opportunity to check sales. While our allocation is small, Vogue India is a sell out - perfect in magazine performance. I see special interest tiles like this which leverage a strong masthead franchise as an excellent business opportunity for us. […]

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Newsagents ought to check out their nearest Office Choice outlet. The re-branding has brought new energy to the office supplies group. While in most cases, newsagents serve different customers in the stationery department than Office Choice, it is worth seeing the change then have undertake.

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We have introduced a small scrapbooking department at Forest Hill. While we are yet to finish the presentation - as you can see in the photo - products are already selling. As our knowledge of the department develops, we will expand the offering. It was a smart move by the team at the […]

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We are breaking with tradition in promoting the latest issue of Gardening Australia at our counter display space this week. Coverage of Peter Cundall’s farewell from the TV show behind the magazine is enough of a reason to give over this premium space we usually reserve for titles with a good free gift. […]

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I walked past ACP Magazines’ Park Street office in Sydney and say the stunning display of LCD screens. All connected with content co-ordinated.  It reminded me how out of date we are in newsagencies with our paper magazine posters. Installing LCD screens is expensive once you factor in the appropriate software to manage content. […]

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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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There are a few magazines out now with Christmas in July cover themes so I thought it would be a good time to offer some in-store retail and marketing tips for Christmas in July. Santas Warehouse has some good information on the history of Christmas in July.

Check with your local council or […]

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Despite heavy-handed treatment from Tattersalls in recent weeks, we continue to proactively promote their products.  We have a great display promoting the $40 million OzLotto jackpot down the middle of the store – way outside the precious Tattersalls Dedicated Area.
 
The photo does not do the display justice.  It’s certainly driving good sales.  And, yes, the […]

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The choice for our weekend counter promotion was easy yesterday – the Dolly beanie and scarf make for an ideal impulse offer.
Even though this issue of Dolly has been out for a couple of days, we are expecting the weekend to be very good for this counter promotion – especially since this is […]

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The geeks were out in force across Australia yesterday chasing down iPhones. I saw one line of at least 100 outside the Optus shop in Elsternwick at 7am.
We sought to tap into the heightened interest and placed the Macworld magazine in the pocket above the Herald Sun. The iPhone on the […]

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We are finally developing plans for a new shop fit for our Frankston newsagency.  I say finally because we have been working on this off and on for the last six months.  Beyond the challenge of the physical space itself (columns, no back room etc) is the challenge of developing a layout which is fresh […]

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We are promoting Marie Claire at the counter this week. Even though the latest issue has been out a week and has sold well, the free Prevage anti-aging formula gift is the most compelling gift with a magazine this week.  We have enough stock to support the offer so using our premium counter position […]

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Stationery can be a set and forget department with products rarely moved.  Customers can become as store blind as newsagency staff.  We are using a small screen placed within the stationery department to play TV commercails and other video content (with sound) to draw attention to products.  The key to this is brand name suppliers […]

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