There is some confusion among newsagents, would-be newsagents and even suppliers about newsagency brands. Until recently there was Newspower, newsXpress and Nextra.
Confusion has arisen from Nextra’s launch of two sub brands – Nextra express and News extra. I’m particularly suspicious about their choice of Nextra express as it is very close in name to newsXpress of which I am a Director and shareholder. I would have preferred the Nextra experts demonstrate their skill by coming up with a more unique name.
For the record, newsXpress has nothing to do with Nextra express or indeed any of the other groups. Our stores are called newsXpress and nothing else.
I saw an advertisment (i believe it was in the ANF’s “National Newsagent”) by Nextra for these new sub-brands. The very first thing that stood out was its similarity in name (which was also reenforced by similar colours) to newsXpress.
I too would be suspicious if i were you. In such a limited market of newsagency marketing groups, there needs to be a clear difference in branding.
Clearly you have managed to forget Supanews and Supanews Xpress, Australia’s leading newsagency retailers.
Supanews is offensive to the newsagency shingle. Their stores feel bland and cold.
Poor old angst ridden Mark –
Enlighten everyone why Supanews is offensive to the newsagency shingle – do they sell drugs or murder children? Now give us an overview of why their stores are cold and bland and then further entertain everyone as to why they are the only agency chosen to sell the Qld transport card system and not your predictable newsxpress group.
I can hear your teeth gnashing now
While my comment is “awaiting moderation” which I assume is a quaint way of saying “will I publish this or not” – your libellous statements about the Supanews group has achieved one thing if nothing.
You have offended the many hardworking franchisees, their families and employees who are doing nothing more than trying to earn an honest living.
You have held yourself up for ridicule by the directors and shareholders of the Pacific Equity Partners group that own the Supanews group, Angus and Robertson, Borders Books and many other leading business houses.
Having said that, I guess the six or seven regular commentators to your daily diatribe (probably employees) will flare up no doubt and rush to your aid as is the want of most sycophants
Michael,
First up I would note that you are not another Michael who comments here regularly. You are the Michael, anon and Shaun (different to another here) who leaps to the defence of Supanews.
I say Supanews is offensive because its stores are bland, lack the personal touch of newsagencies and because they are not full service. I have been in plenty and the experience is not the same as a well run locally wholly owned business.
Outside of the shopping experience is the franchise arrangement. Taking a 6% franchise fee has proven to be diabolical for several franchisees as legal settlements can testify from what I hear.
I don’t care if the directors of the businesses you name ridicule me.
Employees of mine have comment here rarely – maybe once a month.
Mark Fletcher
sorry everyone i’m probably showing my ignorance (the old ‘don’t ask me, i just work here’!) but what’s a full service newsagency?
Mark ,yes i noticed that anon was using my name last week when he commented on your magazine hire idea
my God there’s more than one Shaun that actually reads this crap
col
a full service newsagency is apparently the one that is only run by fletcher
Shaun,
A full service newsagency embraces a diverse range of products, local ownership, warm service, a community connection and genuine and active support for key publisher, card and stationery brands.
This is not about me.
Mark
I would throw in the dart that a full service Newsagent does home delivery too.
anon use your real name not mine or anyone elses.
I’m not rushing to Mark’s defence, I’m not employed by him, a fan of his or have even meet him.
I have been in a few Supanews stores and don’t share the same opinion of Mark. My opinion is a bit different.
You’re obviously a person who works for Supanews, the fact that you can’t show even your first name shows that you lack common courtesy. This reflects to Supanews.
You don’t contribute in any real way to this blog and really, I don’t care about Supanews selling bus tickets or you being jealous of Mark or anyone else here that is helpful.
Mark
you still haven’t commented/apologised to the many hardworking employees and owners of supanews stores or the parent company PEP about your ongoing bilious attack on Supanews without qualifying why you hold so much inner anger. I think you owe anyone that bothers to read this blog (apart from the usual suspects) your agenda with the Supanews group
anon, you’ve bagged Mark at every opportunity and if you are a representative of Supanews, Mark can have a go back at you. The hardworking employees of Supanews should probably tell you to shut up and use your real name for starters.
Anom i hope you are haing fun using my name you little germ .Get a life looser .
Mark, is there anyway we can get rid of anon ,everyone has a right to make a comment on here but he is just making a joke of the whole industry .
The term for someone that deliberately inflames people in an online discussion is a ‘troll’. The best tactic is to ignore them, they thrive on the negative responses they get.
But yes Mark could do an ip block I would think if he so desired I would think.
how old are you Shaun?
Yes Michael I do take umbrage with one Mark Fletcher because he has chosen to mischievously attack a fellow newsagent who is doing nothing more than trying to improve how agencies work – it is his hidden agenda and ongoing bitchiness that deserves comment at every opportunity until he is shown up for what he is – narcissistic
Anon where in Brisbane are you? I can come and explain how Mark has not attacked you but maybe has set a benchmark for this industry.
Well mark i think it is time to block this clown out of this blog .
Anon you are asking me how old i am come on you fool get a life you have no balls you can’t even use your real name ,you have to hide behind all these other names .
Answer one question anon ,do you even own a newsagency ?
Shaun (real one), they don’t, and I think the owner wouldn’t be happy having staff sprout off like that.
Col
go to item 11 where fletcher attempts to clarify what a full service newsagency is – aparently anyone outside the newsxpress stable doesn’t fit this description and he still won’t display the common decency, to which he espouses, to qualify his rancid comments about Supanews to the dedicated staff, owners and associated business partners of this professional group – he wallows in his own mire of hatred for some unexplained, hirtherto, reason
Shaun (the fake one who uses several names here), my definition applies to over 4,000 newsagents.
The TVC I have funded features independent, Newspower and newsXpress outlets.
My position on the channel as a whole is well established. Now I don’t know you and cannot therefore speak to any personal gripe you have with me.
Mark
anon, I’m not in the Newsxpress stable but I understand what he is saying. Mark didn’t have to explain it to you because you’re a nutter.
Please address the questions in full in items 14 and 23 with a sensible answer
Shaun (and your multiple names used here),
I have no inner anger at Supanews. I don’t like their stores and I think the model is flawed. I suspect some current franchisees think this. Certainly some former franchisees think this.
While I welcome debate on any blog post, it needs to be fair and balanced. Your personal attacks do your mission no good.
Mark
anon, address the questions that we have asked you. And where in Brisbane is the Supanews where you work at?
Mark
Are there any nextra stores you don’t like or maybe a couple of mum and dad corner operators you don’t like? You either don’t get the point or you are too intent on your vendetta to let a sense of fair play be encouraged. You happily jumped on a bandwagon some time ago and now can’t get the monkey off your back.
Is there anything you wish to say to the hardworking franchisees/families and their staff that you have insulted?
Shaun,
There are stores of all banners which do not reflect well on the channel. My comments about Supanews relate to their network wide approach. Bland. Cold. Not enthusiastic and exciting like many other newsagencies.
Given your opinion of me and this place I am surprised you want an apology or otherwise.
Mark
anon where do I get the bus tickets from?
I don’t want an apology from you – you created the agenda for the need to explain yourself to the people I have alluded to previously. Like a good spin doctor you continue to skirt around it.
You have never made mention of other stores that do not reflect well on the channel. Why is that?
Hi anon,
I was in a Supanews store today – at Bayside in Frankston, Victoria. It is a store opened almost 2 years ago with a franchisee, and his hard working family. 12 months later, Supanews locked this same hard working family out of their business. Changed the locks and called in security. I have only been in this industry about 10 years but I do not know of any other group who locks out their franchisees or store owners.
The innocent staff couldn’t even access their personal items, like christmas presents they had purchased for their families and were hiding them at work.
Feel free to contact Rad Williams for a more detailed synopsis of the flawed model, according to him. He’s trying to resurrect his family after a Supanews experience.
That business is now run by, according to the staff I saw today, juniors. Not hard working families. The business is on the Supanews website as “for sale” with an entry cost significantly below the initial entry price.
It’s one of about 15 for sale so there really isn’t that many hard working family franchisees out ther in Supanews land.
Whilst you think Mark Fletcher might be having a crack at Supanews on this site, according to you only a few readers so who cares, Greg Campbell of Nextra commented in the September edition of National Newsagent that Supanews was a flawed model. National Newsagent is distributed to thousands across the industry nationally so he’s clearly spoken to a lot more people according to you.
Can we look forward to your demands from the editor of National Newsagent, of an apology for Greg also downgrading Supanews.
Have a good day
Lorraine.
That’s sad to hear Lorraine, I thought that shop was going good.
For all you victorian’s, Supanews stores are either opened by supanews or aquired and then done up to the model supanews follows. These stores are bright, well designed and layed out in a manner where customers can find what they are looking for easily. I hardly believe you can make a comment on supanews when victoria only currently has 4 stores in the state. I’ve owned a newsagency in brisbane for 32 years and can say in brisbane at least the supanews model has helped the industry in a manner many others have not. I am not a supannews agency nor am i apart of the supanews group but from personal experience find there stores clutter free and easy for customers. Many newsagents are full of clutter, the supanews group should be pround of their image and layouts as they are clearly industry leaders in this regards.
Troll (Shaun and your other names),
There are plenty of posts here about newsagencies which let the channel down. There are reports of mistakes I have made as well.
You like Supanews, good on you. Because you don’t out yourself people don’t know what weight to put on your view.
Mark
Hello James,
I’m sorry but I can’t agree on parts of your comments.
The Westfield complex in Geelong is a perfect example of the existing newsagents being forced out rather than acquired.
And Neil, ex Chadstone can certainly give everyone a background on how the Supanews “acquisition” process works – If he wasn’t under a confidentiality clause. So can Rad Williams and the folk in Canberra when they come out of their situation.
I agree their stores are clear aisles and easy to shop, although clinical.That’s my personal view.
But please don’t think some of us in Victoria do not know about and understand the “model”. I did attend the very first presentation in Melbourne some 4 years ago and have watched with interest since.
Have a lovely day.
Lorraine
I prefer my local newsagency simply because they’re friendly and i’ve known them for ages. I like the atmosphere there and the people are genuinely helpful.
That’s more than I can say for some other newsagencies. (not talking about supanews)
“The Westfield complex in Geelong is a perfect example of the existing newsagents being forced out rather than acquired.”
But the newsagent at Westfield Geelong is a Nextra, isn’t it?
Phil
do you mean that nextra acquired the existing newsagency there
anon, I don’t know… Lorraine’s comment above that “The Westfield complex in Geelong is a perfect example of the existing newsagents being forced out rather than acquired” seemed to be in the context of Supanews, but to my knowledge, the newsagent in the centre is Nextra.
Can anybody shed some light on the issue?
This was a supanews site until Supanews pulled out of the lease just prior to opening. It was offered to Nextra.
Nextra negotiated the lease and put a newsagent into baycity in Geelong. Poor Tony went broke. Not sure how much he lost but I suspect it was a fortune. Nextra and their lease negotiations could not help him. Nextra then negotiated a new lease and someone else have the business now. Not sure how they are doing.
surely poor Tony has to take part of the blame . After all he was the one running the show . i
Nextra only negotiated the lease after Supanews pulled out off the original negotiated lease. Supanews were moving in on the original operator with a new lease. Nextra only came in after Supanews pulled out and Tony had already decided to leave the ctr.
My understanding is that Nextra negotiated the lease and placed Tony in the business. Tony went broke on this, I suspect because of the lease, and at least one other nextra negotiated lease. Once Tony had gone broke and was forced out of the centre nextra negotiated a new lease for new people in the Geelong centre.
Tony must have been the most talked about newsagent in Australia , everyone seems to know what happend to Tony . surly tony must have agreed with the lease and Nextra didn’t twist his arm to sign it .