We decided to have another crack at party goods brought in the range from Alpen just over a month ago. We’ve placed this display behind our main newspaper stand, next to our card department. Sales are good, generating a good return on the space and sock investment.
The only downside about the move is Alpen themselves. They have refused a direct account saying they want newsagents to go through a wholesaler. This is after we agreed to their minimum order value and we explained that we wanted more of their range than we could easily get through a wholesaler. Their refusal to grant a direct relationship hs us looking elsewhere for party goods.
Retail is tough. We need to cut costs out of the supply chain. This is why direct relationships are important to newsagents – they provide us the best opportunity of reward for effort.