The moment we signed the lease for newsXpress Watergardens store we committed to investing considerable time and money into the journey pursuing what the next generation newsagency will look like. This began with casting aside many of the shop layout assumptions which have dominated newsagent shop fits for decades. We obsessed about layout, finishes, lighting and mood.
In fact, mood was key since we wanted to change the customer experience considerably from the visual noise and rush of a traditional newsagency experience.
This is the first newsagency for our designer – a big risk but also an excellent opportunity if we were to truly start with a clean slate. We has some stipulations – including the use of magazine fixtures from Europe. This photo shows part of the magazine department – you can see that the least of any cover showing is half and that many magazine are displayed with the full cover showing – how designers, publishers and editors intended them to be shown.
The learnings (good and bad) from this store will be shared with newsXpress members as the journey unfolds – it is a key reason for opening a corporate store, to gain personal experience and to have a place where risk investment (in dollars and labour) can be made.
It is important for more newsagents to experiment, to challenge shop designers and builders, to push the boundaries of what constitutes a newsagency and to measure the results.
The opening of the store three days ago was another step in our journey but it is only early days yet. We have more ideas to try, new stock to bring in and, still, some of the fit to be implemented.
Hi Mark
I think this experiment of yours is truly ground breaking not only for your fellow newsXpress colleagues, but for any magazine retailer from around the world who cares to read your posts.
We renewed our magazine racking earlier this year and with undershelf lighting being used to illuminate those in shadow magazines, did you concider this and if so why did you not use them?
Your new store does look great and I hope that the customers are enjoying the experience of shopping it.
Well done to you and you team.
Steve
Thanks for your comments Steve. We knew we would need to work on the undershelf lighting but wanted to see the units in place first. We were not sure how far apart we would set the shelves. Now that we can see them we are talking with our lighting designer about this and a couple of other areas in the new layout.
The customer feedback over the last three days has been wonderful. What is especially interesting is the mix of products sold – we’re playing at the edges in some departments and this is pleasing.
Mark