Even in a major shopping centre, there is an expectation about the local Aussie newsagency, that it’s a shop for papers, magazines lottery tickets, instant scratch tickets and, often cigarettes. It never did bill payment, parcel pickup, money transfer or any of the other agency services that are pushed to newsagents.
Too many journalists and news outlets when they write about newsagencies, they write with this in mind, with the view of our businesses as they were 20 or so years ago.
My business at Westfield Knox, which I had for eight and a half years, played against tradition, it played against ignorant assumptions. It never had any lottery products, never sold cigarettes, never sold everyday confectionary. This was a collectible, gift and expressions shop that constantly evolved over its life. It was a good example of a local newsagency that was fresh and modern.
From the way it pitched framed beautiful wrap to one of the first major full-face card walls to the range of gifts, this business was loved locally.
We traded through the full 7 year lease and an extension the landlord asked us to consider. We planned to leave at the end of year 7 and concentrate on high street and online businesses. It turned out that staying gave us more opportunity for change, which was wonderfully successful.
When Aussies think of the local newsagency, I’d like them to think of it as unique, because every newsagency is unique, and to think of it as a place to find gifts and ways to express ourselves. This is what innovating newsagents have embraced, it is where they are finding growth in terms of basket depth, business GP% performance and personal satisfaction as a retailer.
What we did in this shop in-store is what many newsagents are doing, playing way outside what has been traditional for local retail newsagencies. What we did online many years ago and until the store closed was ground-breaking, and we’re proud of that.
The local Aussie newsagency is not what journalists, editors and many Aussies think it is. The more we as a channel share this publicly the better the opportunity to shift perception and that is key.
I don’t want to read the sky is falling for newsagents type articles, because it is not. Print newspapers will end, for sure. But that will not end us. Too many newsagents are growing their businesses. There is so much good news in our channel, so much innovation, so many good retailers. It’s wonderful!
This series over the last 8 days is a small push back against the ignorant narrative in newspapers and elsewhere about newsagents struggling. Sure, some are. but the challenges were first identified 20 years ago. There has been plenty of opportunity to evolve.
Now, if only some of the old-school suppliers to the channel let newsagents evolve by dropping arcane rules and out of date processes. Now that would be a win!
In the meantime, checkout more local newsagencies and be ready to see fresh an innovative retail.
