The next step of our work with our new newsagency in Frankston is to switch from the current Newspower branding. For the last three and a half weeks, we have been making changes inside the business in advance of our coming out under the newsXpress brand. As with any cultural and operational change, it has to come from the inside out.
The most significant change has been to focus the offering of the business. Many newsagents are lured into thinking that to compete they have to sell cheap stationery and gifts. While the margin be great, the poor quality, in my view, gives off the wrong message. So, over three weeks we have repositioned this business and while the job is not done, we are ready to put on a new face – hopefully before Christmas. Here’s an incomplete design of the plans:
The planned recapping is the first of several physical changes to the business. It is a challenge because we need to get this done while continuing to trade and in a way which will work with a more significant re-fit internally early in 2008. The changes planned for next year are a raised ceiling – of plaster and not the traditional tiled type.