OFIS, the new stationery model from Harvey Norman, opened in the Melbourne suburb of Mentone yesterday. It is easy to say that OFIS offers nothing new, that it is a clone of Officeworks and therefore dismiss it. What is new is that stationery has been flogged hard on Melbourne radio this past week. The arrival OFIS puts stationery on the radar and lets people know there are other outlets and that price is an issue.
Newsagents heavily into stationery and located near to the OFIS business will be affected. Newsagents who focus on stationery as a convenience service are less likely to be affected. This distinction will become more important to us over time.
The Melbourne incarnation of OFIS is an advancement on the first stores of this new group. The layout has been refined as has the core product pitch. They have some categories which I did not see in the Sydney store, categories which newsagents could play with.
Is this at the old Ikea site ?
No, other side, up from Bunnings.