Reports suggest that Supanews has shut out another franchisee, this time at Tuggerah NSW. The Angus and Robertson folks must be wondering what they have bought into in their Supanews Retail Group partnership. Franchisors locking out so many franchisees in such a short time is not a good look.
I an a Director of newsXpress, a competitor of Supanews.
how many is that? 2 or 3?? that is not many for a retail franchise model still in its infancy.
haven’t these lockouts happened since angus & robertson appeared on the scene? according to your blog they came around october last year. perhaps they – as the majority shareholder – have something to do with it. i don’t know… just a thought.
Frank, I don’t know who made the decisions. However, I understand that not all Supanews stores prior to the A&R deal switched to the new structure.
Mark
thanks mark – that sounds very unusual. is there a dual structure where a&r owns some stores and the original supanews owns others?
all the best
frank
Yes, my understanding is that some of franchises were retained in the original entity. But I could be wrong.
I am bewildered by your continuous vitriolic attack on the supanews group. Having completed due diligence on a franchise I can comfortably say that the model reflects everything that i am pursuing in a franchise. Perhaps you would do better than to make idle hearsay comment on the supanews groupd and concentrate on your own business that sounds more like a struggling jealous competitor
Mark,
This post in April is one of three or four over a year. It is reporting an event which has hurt a small business owner. The newsagency channel has been built around mutual respect with many newsagents doing it tough to hold their business. When a new player comes in and undercuts then to the landlord, well, some of is get upset and the resulting loss.
I’m not demanding you agree with me – hey this is an open place and your view is registered.
Good luck.
mark
I agree with Mark actually. It seems to me that Supanews has somehow hurt the newsxpress and nextra chains by gaining momentum with A&R. Do i detect a hint of jealousy.
Hi Chris,
I’m not the jealous type. newsXpress is a very different business to Supanews so there is no point in comparing them.
mark
Correct me if i am wrong but aren’t Nextra and Newsxpress Marketing groups.
Surely Mark is not a franchisee of Newsxpress … he is simply a member of their marketing group.
So to attempt to compare the two is outrageous. On top of this; you do not know the circumstances surrounding the closure of these sites; and until you do I don’t think it is wise to make attacks at them.
Worry about your business; and let them worry about theres.
Matt,
newsXpress operates under a franchise structure but not in the traditional sense of a percentage on turnover.
What is outrageous is an attack on a long standing newsagent who loses his business in a budding war with the landlord.
Mark
Mark,
Fair enough on your point about the franchise structure.
But you didn’t elaborate on your knowledge of the circumstances of the closure of these sites.
I am sure you do not blog when you sack a staff member; so why the finger pointing at Supanews.
Hi Mark
Sorry I must be mistaken, I thought that you were both newsagencies, could you please explain the difference?
Yes both are newsagencies … except one is made out to be the devil on this blog.
It is called competition. Tell me how it is any different to having to independent newsagencies in the same retail centre.
Matt and Chris,
I have owned my newsagency for 11 years. It was unbranded and then went to Nextra for two years and then we switched to Newspower for, I think, 4 years. We have been newsXpress for almost two years.
Marketing groups are very different. The differnce between then and Supanews is in the fees paid.
Like anything, buyer beware.
My concern about Supanews is the impact on long term newsagents when Supanews reportedly outbids on a lease. People involved in the resulting disputes share stories of significant loss.
Mark
supanews continues to grow from strength to strength and that is what any franchise chain hopes to achieve. Your hand wringing angst about what A & R must think of Supanews is illfounded and simply tea room chatter. You appear to have anointed yourself some sort of arbitor of all things appropriate that must be displayed or sold within a newsagency. Myself? I think sex sells and it is not up to me to second guess what my customers want to see and purchase. Get off your high moral horse and stop bleating about a competitor that is defining how a newsagency should look and operate. Too bad Supanews didn’t like your tower systems. Is that the cause of all of this teeth gnashing>
“Gary”,
Time will tell if the Supanews model works and if it is good for the newsagency channel as a whole.
As for Tower Systems and Supanews, yes we met and talked. A relationship was inappropriate because we were mismatched companies. I said that at the time. There were no hard feelings.
Mark Fletcher
WARNING: a person is posting comments on this topic under various names. Gary (May 31), Chris (May 11) and Mark Geist (May 10) are all the same person or at least posting from the same location. This is an open place where all comments are published. People ought to respect that and declare who they really are and where they are from.
mark Fletcher
why?