The closure of Mahony’s Newsagency in Wodonga, as reported in the Border Mail, marks the end of a three-generation family legacy that spanned nearly 70 years. While closing is a sentimental moment, it serves as a stark case study of the challenges facing newsagents and how decisions, or indecision, plays into what happens.
It’s frustrating news outlets report this story yet ignore stories of newsagency transformation, stories of success.
The trap of tradition
The factors cited for the closure highlight a common pitfall: an obsession with a shrinking traditional market.
- Magazine reliance: The business was heavily impacted when the magazine market “collapsed,” with over 700 titles dropped.
- Stagnant consumer engagement: Kieran Mahony noted that newsagencies have become like churches—valued by the neighbourhood, but rarely visited by anyone other than the “die-hard faithful”.
- Digital displacement: While longtime customers acknowledge that lives have changed “immeasurably” due to the digital age, many traditional shops remained tethered to the physical sale of papers and magazines even as others were lost to the internet.
By not sufficiently changing the business, closure was the only option. Tough as it is, the business owners made the decisions leading to this.
The choices we make, and don’t make every day in our shops have consequences.
A failure to adapt
The reality of “years of downturn” eventually made the closure unavoidable. This outcome reflects a broader trend in the industry: closures are often a result of a failure to move beyond the “information commons” role of the past. Shops that remain purely sentimental meeting places, rather than evolving retail destinations, struggle to maintain commercial viability.
Adapt or die has been a mantra in business for decades. Unfortunately, too many ignorant it. Rooted in Darwinism, adapt or die suggests that only those who transform to fit a new environment will survive. It’s what we are seeing in business.
Newsagencies that adapt have brighter opportunities.
The path forward: transitioning to thrive
It is important to note that the newsagencies currently thriving in Australia are those that have intentionally transitioned away from the old approach. Success in the modern landscape requires:
- Diversified product mix: Moving away from a reliance on magazines and newspapers toward higher-margin giftware and specialty items.
- Digital integration: Using e-commerce and social media not just as “promises,” but as active tools to reach customers beyond the local footpath.
- Evidence-based management: Making decisions based on current data rather than historical sentiment.
To survive, a business needs to evolve its model to meet customers where they are now. Without significant structural change and a departure from traditional obsessions, the old-school newsagency risks becoming a memory preserved only in historic photographs.
Heritage and history are not shields against changing technology.
What’s the best move you can take in your newsagency?
Stop being a newsagent. Start with changing your name. That move alone will give you permission to see your business differently.
I’ve know and worked with the Mahony’s business for decades. It was a stand out business way back when newsagencies were strong on the back of regulation. That all changed in 1999, and plenty dodged not change their businesses.
Don’t be constrained by an out of date shingle.
What we owe the dead.
While I honour the three-generation legacy of a business like Mahony’s, what we truly owe the now “dead” business is the courage to pivot to a brighter future.
Respecting tradition does not mean being anchored by it; rather, it means taking the hardworking spirit of those who came before and applying it to the landscape of 2026.
The newsagencies that are thriving today are those that have viewed the “collapse” of old categories as a clean slate for innovation.
By transitioning away from print media and embracing diverse giftware, high-tech POS integrations, and active e-commerce strategies, retailers can transform a closing door into a new gateway.
There is immense hope in this evolution; as we let go we make room for a vibrant, essential, and profitable retail destination that serves the modern “faithful” in entirely new ways.
Success.
I see plenty of newsagencies enjoying success. It’s a choice. I urge all newsagents to choose it.
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Mark Fletcher founded newsagency software company Tower Systems and is the CEO of newsXpress, a marketing group serving innovative newsagents who continuously evolve their businesses to be enjoyable, relevant and successful. You can reach him on mark@newsxpress.com.au or 0418 321 338.