Newsagents in Queensland received an email advising GNS is closed Monday for an Anzac Day holiday – even though it is not a public holiday. It turns out the day off was negotiated at the time of an Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.
Newsagents in Queensland received an email advising GNS is closed Monday for an Anzac Day holiday – even though it is not a public holiday. It turns out the day off was negotiated at the time of an Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.
The hierarchy seems to run GNS their way which certainly does not favour Newsagent. I have been trying for ages to have a Saturday trading day regularly once per month. By doing cash and carry we can save on cost and making us more competitive against the majors. It would also allow newsagents to see product range available and introduce new lines , my suggestion has fallen to deaf ears . GNS is still owned by Newsagents although since the new CEO was appointed it seems more interested in servicing commercial account and less service to the Newsagents. May I remind the board and management of GNS that GNS started because Newsagents were sick and tired of Ancol’s attitude towards Newsagent those of us that remember this know what I am talking about.
The following is the clause from the QLD and VIC Enterprise Agreement (EA) relative to our Qld and Vic Warehouse Operations;
“Clause 21.4 Public Holidays falling on a weekend;
When Anzac Day is a Saturday or Sunday, a holiday in lieu thereof shall be observed on the next Monday.”
These conditions have been in the EA for over 10 years and this year is one such year where the EA clause applies.
From a commercial perspective, we don’t want to have to close the warehouse, yet we are bound by the conditions of the EA that were negotiated long before my time. The last thing I want is to lose a days’ trading in what is always a tough trading month.
With regards to your comment Colin around Saturday trading, the following is the dates where NSW was open and trading on a Saturday. Other states have opened during Expo time on both Saturdays and Sundays. If you tell me which state you are in I would be pleased to supply those dates. We also promote Saturday trading heavily leading up to the dates to maximise the opportunity for our customers and cover the increased costs to open on a weekend. Unfortunately despite our best efforts the sales generated on these days in most cases barely covers costs of labour. I would be more than happy to open on Saturdays on a regular basis – providing we get the appropriate levels of support that justifies this. Sadly this has not been the case in the past.
NSW
1/02/14
5/04/14
19/07/14
16/08/14
30/08/14
6/12/14
10/01/15
17/01/15
31/01/15
7/02/15
With regards to your comments around our commercial focus, our requirement to seek other markets for our business has been solely driven by the decline we have been experiencing in the Newsagents channel progressively and consistently since 2009, also predating my joining the business. Unless we maintain our revenue base and actively seek growth opportunities – from any channels, our ability to continue to offer products and services to all of our channels including Newsagents becomes compromised.
For the record we are very committed to our traditional customer base and are continuing to invest in product development, resources and better systems to support Newsagents through these challenging times.
In order for us to do that we also need the support of Newsagents. I would love to discuss how we can better service Newsagents, as well as talk about other initiatives GNS is working on – for Newsagents – any time.
As for deaf ears, mine are OK although my wife thinks I’m deaf sometimes. I prefer to call that “selective hearing”.
Alex,
how about getting more IT products ? we have been asking for many years now and still there is bugger all available through GNS. We are selling that many high end SD cards, hard drives, and general IT gear its not funny. Seems like GNS is very reluctant to stock this sort of stuff. Most of the gear available through you guys is rubbish. The customers want high end gear that will last. Are you guys planning on bringing this sort of equipment in or is GNS still going to be stuck in the 90s ?
Thanks for your comments Murray. The challenge we have here is that this category is incredibly volatile with available margins right through the supply chain being very narrow. Unless we deal directly with the manufacturer we cannot source at a competitive price to not only offer our retailers a reasonable margin but to also justify our own costs. We’re not reluctant at all but it makes no sense sourcing product from another wholesaler in this category. This category is well and truly on the radar and we are working on finding solutions that will address your concerns.
Fantastic to read comments from Alex Stewart answering newsagents’ concerns.
Some newsagents are quite rude in their approach but some of us really appreciate the input (even though GNS is not our supplier)
Thank you Alex
Alex,
We need to get into social stationery and in that regard I mean entire suites, colour and design matched. Typo and Smiggle have shown us the way, we need to be there as Officeworks and now even Ikea are showing as well.
I will add that I agree with Brett that the market we need is social stationery.
Both younger and Teen
Spencil I felt showed us that but GNS need to have a lot more control over the stock.
Thanks very much for your comments June – they are appreciated.
Brett- not sure if you are aware of Spencil but take a look at http://www.spencil.com.au
We stock a great range of their product and I’ve just seen some new items that will be excellent in this category that we will be ranging shortly. We have great prices on these items and should allow you to target a good proportion of this segment.
In context of general communication we are working on our Newsletter and will be releasing this in May. Our intention is to update quarterly and this will provide details on new products, services and other ways GNS is re-inventing itself.
In fairness to Mark, I don’t want to use his blog as a default communication method.
My email is alex.stewart@gnswholesale.com.au and I would invite anyone wanting to offer any feedback that can make us more relevant to our customers to strengthen the Newsagents channel.
We are doing many things to improve this business some of which are visible, some yet to come….
Alex,
I appreciate those comments. I understand the slim margin there is on certain IT products, however to compete with the likes of officeworks I feel GNS needs to look at what they offer across the range, Yes we can beat them in price 100 times out of 100. There are 100s of items available through officeworks but are not available through GNS. I realize they would have a stronger buying power then you but if newsagents supported it I am sure the prices would reflect that.
Alex,
I know spencil but that’s not what Im referring to.
We need the whole stationery lines matching, file covers to Diaries to notebooks and pens.
A social line focussed on the 20-30 somethings covering the entire office need.
Hi Brett and Murray,
Please email me your contact details so we can discuss further. My email is in an earlier post (8) above.
thanks
alex
Well done Alex in addressing this forum, wish more suppliers would engage with us Newsagents. The fact you have taken the time shows great support for the industry.
Alex , thank you for your reply Saturday trading would work if it was more regular just like Thursday night and Sunday trading,. You may consider closing a weekday for this corresponding week and you could Enterprise Bargain with your staff. Iam frustrated I just been to Officeworks Blacktown , they are selling white cardboard for $1.97 coloured cardboard for $2.10 my price is $1.00 I am cheaper on 70% of their items. We stopped all advertising back to school because of this this year was a flop. I individually cannot advertise on my own we need a united front as Newsagents to show the public that we can do it better and cheaper than the majors in most instances. I see GNS as our only ally to get foot traffic back in our stores even if there was an advertising levy introduced I am sure most Newsagents would agree to this if it would mean more foot traffic and a more profitable business by winning back our market share in stationery. Mark would you like to start anew blog on this to see what feedback we would be getting
Alex – I like that you engage with newsagents here and I’m happy for you to comment as much as you would like.
On the question of weekend access, I think newsagents need to consider fewer trips to the warehouse and not more. Every trip we make is a cost our competitors do not have. The multiple warehouses around the country are, in my view, a cost burden for GNS which its competitors do not have for a similar number of accounts.
Colin there are many allies to get traffic into newsagencies, including GNS.
On price, shoppers think newsagencies are expensive. Newsagents will not invest the $25M a year necessary to counter this. Also, many newsagents purchase outside of GNS, some prefer to support overseas owned stationery wholesalers.
I appreciate some of these comments will not be popular. It’s how I see it.
My price strategy is to meet shopper expectations and charge more. Most stationery purchases in my shop are for convenience so my pricing reflects that.