Australian Newsagency Blog

Rob Hunt works for nextra and in his role he visits many newsagencies.  If Rob Hunt has visited your newsagency in the last eight weeks or if you have spoken with him elsewhere in that time I would appreciate speaking with you.  I can be contacted on 0418 321 338 or by email at mark@towersystems.com.au.  […]

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The Wrap is reporting that News Corp is considering bidding for the Texas Rangers Major League Baseball team and has bid for the Dallas Stars a National Hockey League team. Makes sense given the success they have had owning Australian NRL teams and half the NRL itself.

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The Cairns Post yesterday promoted a competition with an iPad as the prize.  Entry was by liking the Cairns Post on Facebook.
There are a couple of things which interested me about this: The Cairns Post does not currently have an iPad app; and, it took a bit of work to find their Facebook page since […]

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That’s Life Reader Recipies has been a runaway success for us, selling 40 copies in a couple of weeks up to last night.  We have it placed with That’s Life and at the counter as shown in the photo.  It had worked very well as an impulse purchase because customers know the brand (clever of […]

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We have been using live in-store radio for months now as part of newsXpress radio. This morning we heard a perfect example of how this can work well for newsagencies. The announcer was talking about content in the latest issue of a magazine in a way which entices customers to pick up the […]

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Please excuse this off-topic indulgence.  I thought I’d share a photo I took last week of a business I drive past regularly of The Compassionate Hair Studio. What a brilliant name. Does this make other hairdressers not compassionate?  Are they compassionate in their cutting?  In how they treat customers?  Jokes aside, they stand out and […]

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Newsagents are mourning the tragic killing of Min Lin, his wife Yun Li Lin and their two sons and another female relative at the weekend.  The family owned and operated the Rawson Street Newsagency in Epping Shopping Centre.  They have been clients of my software company since they bought the business years ago.  Those of […]

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The government owned Australia Post shop opposite our newsagency at Forest Hill is offering 50% off all greeting cards until May 31.  They are promoting this in the window and in-store.  If this were any other retailer I would not be concerned.  That it is the Government owned post office with access to various privileges […]

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Talking with customers at our Epping Sophie Randall store we discovered that bushfire victims were buying calendars to replace those which were lost in the fires. Through the relief centre at Kinglake, we have donated calendar stock we had left for distribution as they see a need. I am sure that newsagents with […]

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I am in Perth tonight and was fortunate to witness a glorious sunset.  The sky rolled through grey, pink, red, orange and, finally, black.
Sunsets for me are like smelling roses can be for others.  Outside our four walls, life goes on.

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Congratulations to East Ringwood Newsagency for winning Victorian Distribution Newsagent of the Year on Saturday night.  This is a good story as the winner started as a paperboy.  Congratulations to Morwell Newsagency for winning Victorian Retail Newsagent of the Year.  Employee of the year was won by a team member from yarrawonga Newsagency.

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The dispute between magazine publishers and wholesalers in the US is hotting up.  Billboard.com has a good summary of the story as it stands today including these two paragraphs:
Source argues in the letter that while the magazine publishers characterize the brouhaha as a dispute over seven cents, the whole situation is actually a part of […]

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If you know this person please let us know so we can pass his details on to the police to assist with their enquiries.

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The gift of jam from the folks at Better Homes and Gardens is a nice treat in our kitchen.  Small things like this count in a channel flooded with products.  It also gives our team another reference point to the title - this is important because it is easy to suggest products to people who are […]

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I have been fortunate to see some up to date sales data for greeting cards comparing the performance of newsagencies to department stores, supermarkets, card shops and discount retailers.  The newsagency channel has achieved more growth than the other greeting card channels.  We remain the number one consumer preferred destination for greeting cards with just […]

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Female Hairy Crabs Require 24 Hour Notice.
I saw this note on a menu item in a restaurant in Hong Kong earlier this week. Yes, travel broadens the mind. I did not order the dish.

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In 1988 the US TV Guide sold for US$3billion.  Last week it sold for US$1.00, yes, one dollar.  Village Voice has more on this story.

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Speaking at the opening Digital Leadership Dialogue event at POLIS on Tuesday, Emily Bell predicted an apocalyptic period for mainstream traditional media.
Read the full report at journalism.co.uk.  Not a positive start to the week.
Change brings opportunities for all of us.  We have been working on plans for a shop-fit for our Frankston newsagency.  We are […]

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UK retailer Sainsbury’s has launched a website, Ways to Save, which lists ways consumers can save, as their response to the credit crunch.

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The folks at Good magazine and Starbucks have got together to provide a single sheet single topic sampler promoting Good to Starbucks customers. The single sheet sampler, called Good Sheet, will run for 11 weeks.
I like the idea of sampling magazines, especially monthlies. I’d certainly engage with any publisher wishing to test such […]

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Staples now owns Corporate Express. I’d expect to see their brand have a local presence within the next year or so. An entry by Staples in the retail stationery channel would shake at Australian market up considerably. See the company’s latest press release for some more detail on international moves.

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In a story in The Age today, ANF acting CEO Don MacAskill is quoted as saying
“People have criticised our organisation for the due diligence that was conducted on Bill Express, but at the end of the day, to put this in perspective, Telstra did due diligence on Bill Express, Optus did due diligence … […]

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I was lucky to be in the invited audience for the first dress rehearsal for Wicked, the Broadway musical, Thursday night at Melbourne’s Regent theatre.  This was the first time Wicked was performed in front of an audience here in Australia.
Wicked is amazing, spectacular - performances, the set, effects and the story.  You are taken […]

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I have been in communication with a business in India and considering purchasing some products from them. It is interesting to experience different business customs in emails and on the phone. A good example of this is an email I received from this supplier yesterday. It was a reminder to consider their […]

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This is a post to update my Technorati Profile.

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