In reviewing online content as part of research on the newsagency of the future, I discovered an excellent review of a WH Smith store by Steve Haywood.
I used to love going to WH Smiths as a child – I lived in a small town that wasn’t big enough to have a Smiths, so it was always a real treat. I could browse through the magazines look at all the books, see exciting new board games and much more. Now though, I realise that although it sells many things, with the exception of magazines you can find somewhere better with bigger stock selling those products elsewhere on the high street.
The Lancaster store is no exception. The front third of the ground floor is dedicted to magazines and newspapers, and there’s no better range in Lancaster. The middle third sells stationary and cards – the cards are often good quality and there is an adequate range of stationary. The last third of the shop sells music, dvd and games but the choice is very poor particularly for games. Most things are a lot cheaper elsewhere too, unless you find a cheap box set, which they often have offers on.
Upstairs they sell books and a small selection of board games. I rarely go up there these days as there is much bigger choice of books and Waterstones, which is just behind WH Smiths. I’m a board game fan and am always disappointed with the games they have on sale. Bigger stores have a slightly better selection, but Lancaster is too small to sell much other than the usual monopoly, trivial pursuit, scrabble etc.
So overall good for magazines and newspapers, but not a lot else. Oh and the Lancaster store (crazily for a newsagent) is closed on Sundays, except occasionally in the run upto Christmas.
This review is a reminded that as retailers we must stand for something for if we don’t we are not memorable and not talked about in positive terms.
We need to take control of our newsagencies and turn them into memorable retail businesses which are unique and profitable. Some newsagents play in this space today. Many do not. It is hard work. The reward is a future.
WH Smith released their latest results yesterday. Magazines down 8%.
The problem with being a master at one trade is that if that trade dries up you are left with nothing. I understand peoples perceptions that newsagents should offer everyhing like the good old days and that is what a lot of us are trying to do at the moment, the problem is that people want the good quality stock but also want the cheap prices. We need to be very diverse because we are losing our point of difference as the big retailers with huge cashflows and buying power are pushing into our market.
We must have a great industry model because every man and his dog are transforming their business models to resemble ours ie Aust Post, officeworks introducing newspapers, servos offering mags/papers and even greeting cards and 7/11 offering lotto.
You need to be a jack of all trades in our industry in order to survive, the key is to offer a good range of a lot of different things and then back it up with service without relying on one area to keep afloat. An example in NSW is if Woolworths bid for and gets lotteries, it may not happen but we need to be prepared just in case, can your business survive without lotteries? If it cannot you need to start changing now.
Good luck all we will get through all this if we are smart.
There’s a very interesting article published in the latest New Dawn Magazine No 114 (I suspect it’s in there because no paper would touch it).
It’s on page 11 called : The Downshifting Revolution. It’s worth the five minutes to read it.
If you do read it, comment here, because it’s similar to what is written above.
Trouble is, the servos and supermarkets have already done what has been suggested newsagents do. It’s all a bit late on that score. All we can do is compete as best we can. That’s why they’ve busted in on what has always been ‘our turf’ in the first place.
The guy can’t spell stationery !!!
a FAIL
Please help me be tolerant, patient and helpful because the above browser is hanging around doing nothing.
We have to continue to be innovative, diverse and what Luke said.
Off course we have to be careful as their is a fine line in over capitalising. Points of difference can be numerous, we still have in many Newsagents so much growth potential in Customer Service, Presentation, Display, Instore Promotions, that costs very little compared to spending big on Fixtures & Fittings all the time.
Who would of thought items such as Ink and Gifts would provide a good return, I am not a member of a Marketing Group however I think Particularly in Surburbia Newsagents who belong to one will be the one’s who survive.
Isolated, Country, and outer regional Newsagents may not neccesarily have to belong to a Marketing group but should be working on what has been said on point of difference and change from the traditional Newsagent that lasted for so many years.
Of course this is only my opinion.
This post is a wake up call for us to get serious about business. Id hate this review if it were about me. It could well be.
It is never boring to visit your site Mark. I remember WHS, well I should, I work for them for nearly 20 years. They used to be the inovators on the high street, but some how lost their way in the 1970’s and 1980’s by using their wealth to diversify away from what they knew.
There was Craftsmiths, travel, Do It All, the records shops, Paperchase and of course the USA. They all failed and damaged the main brand.
Then management kept changing, threats of take over and all this meant that top management were not focusing on the business.
There are real lessons to be learned in how a very successful national brand was brought to its knees by failed management.
Steve
Steve, Thanks for the background. It reads like what happened when McDondals lost their way. Someone put it to me earlier this week that the independent newsagents who remain focused on their core business will have a bright future. This person saw a newsagent’s core business as being obsessively focused on being local. The products were secondary.