In November last year I blogged that I had heard that the ANF was close to announcing a relationship with Corporate Express. I questioned this reported move in the context of newsagents owning GNS.
Newsagents own Group Newsagency Supplies (GNS) and the majority of Australian newsagents purchase their stationery from GNS. I would have thought that a closer relationship between the ANF and GNS would be good for the newsagency channel rather than working with a competitor.
I thought (hoped) the ANF discussions with Corporate Express had ended with no deal. I am hearing from a couple of people that such a thought (hope) was premature. Why the ANF would be trying to negotiate any commercial deal is beyond me. They are an industry association. Commercial deals have no place at the ANF – remember Bill Express.
Further, why the ANF would want to deal with an organisation which competes with a $100 million a year business which is owned by newsagents makes no sense at all. GNS is ours. It is an asset to the channel and ought to be used to its fullest to strengthen our channel.
This would be the final straw for us, VANA/ANF have been ‘handbags @ dawn’ against GNS for the last few years & to their eternal discredit neither side has found a way to repair the damage. If the CE deal is on; we’re gone. Association/Federation coverage is nice but if they go through with this it’s over.
James, I was asked to speak with the VANA board about their Futures Project before they dumped it and during the meeting we talked about GNS. I shared my view that the VANA Board ought to do everything possible to rebuild its relationship with GNS and that they should stop competing with them.
While there has been recent moved to mend the relationship, it is not fixed yet. The CE decision will give us a status update.
Mark your comment that GNS is owned by newsagents is correct but as they pretty much have a monopoly they get away with ridiculous pricing and in doing so treat us with disrespect. If bringing a competitor into our market offers us better pricing – then I’m all for it!
Helen, I disagree. In WA where you are there are multiple warehouses selling stationery.
The capacity of GNS to negotiate is determined by the discipline of its shareholders to support the business.
Mark,
Your recent support for GNS is a hell of a backflip from your comments in mid 2007, what has changed for the better (for non newspower branded stores)?
If GNS lacks negotiating power because its membership fails to support them…. well clearly they aren’t as sharp on pricing, service and range as they need to be.
Fair comment Hamish. This blog provides a good record of what I said and when.
I have got to know GNS better since 2007 and to understand their challenges in representing thousands of newsagencies. While they don’t always get it right, I see them trying, particularly over the last two years.
We own them and the best way to influence them is to engage in elections and AGMs etc. Newsagents tend to not get involved.
i couldn’t help but go back and have a look at the 2007 comments .it was not supprising to see that newspower get better deals , is this still happening. Does newsexpress also get better deals now . i am just wondering why the big turn around ?
Shaun, no, there has been no change in deals for newsXpress members.
Call it an epiphany of sorts. I realised that I should support this business I had shares in because it is probably the most important business newsagents have an investment in outside their own businesses.
graft
Mark, you’ve had an epiphany; hmm more like – Today GNS are flavour of the month but of course we all know this will change the next time they do something that irks you! At least your comments are entertaining…
Helen, I am happy to stand on my record here and elsewhere. I have nothing to hide.
At least you could pay me the same courtesy,Markfor when I bring something to the fore you say I have an axe to grind or a hidden agenda. Which ofcourse I don’t.
Now when other peolple bring up the same points you are accommoodating…..very interesting
Graeme I don’t see the connection with this thread.
Helen you can poke fun all you like. At least he is public here and puts his real name to what he writes.
Most of us and you too, hide behind first names and therefore hide our agendas.
While I do not always agree with Mark, I respect his commitment to newsagents and his running of this blog as a tool for the good of newsagents. What are you doing that gives you the right to be so bitchy toward him?
About GNS, what is your beef with them? I agree they can be frustrating. But I take that up with my state manager. Are you working with them on your concerns or do you just loive complaining?
Graeme, I can’t work out what you are on about or on half the time.
Likewise with you David.
To the considerable people that contact me they can see some backflips of giant proportions and wonder why. If you feel that this blog should be a yes Sir three bags full blog then you sure are a contributor to that factor. What is wrong with making a statement when you feel that something is out of the norm?
and David I do use my complete name.
David you are bitching about people bitching makes no sence ?
i do agree that this blog is a great tool and it is one of the first things i do in the morning when i get to work and that is check the blog ..
It surprises me sometimes how a blog post can be pulled off topic through the comment thread.
Newsagents need to decide if they want to continue to own a national stationery warehouse group and if the answer is yes then support GNS. If the answer is no they should participate in discussions with GNS. Either way, complaining without a plan or feedback to GNS is a waste.
i am more than happy to support GNS but i am not more than happy to support newspower and this goes way back for me when i priced on a bulk purchase for something ages ago that i find out i cannot buy because i am not newspower this is where i have an issue with GNS . How can someting i own not treat me the same as other co owners
I must agree with Shaun on this one.
GNS should supply stationery – to every one of us – on equal terms.
Newspower should be a marketing group like all the others – and they should stop using the term ‘your local newsagency’.
Brett and Shaun, sometimes groups negotiate deals with suppliers and bring them to GNS for fulfillment. In these circumstances the negotiating group deserves to reap the rewards of their work.
Mark,
The point being made is that Newspower is owned by GNS and in turn GNS is owned by these newsagents that don’t belong to Newspower.
Shaun’s statement is shared by a lot of newsagents that don’t belong and is their choice not to, to Newspower. It seems a very valid comment.
GNS set itself up to be the newsagents stationery distributor owned and funded by newsagents- NOT groups.
In fact Ted Rogan has stated on many occasions that “Group” activity will not get a special price advantage over the individual newsagent. He and Ross Olleranshaw and the Board stated this to News4 participants many times. It was a point that I respected very much and learned to accept.
Are you saying that groups such as Newspower and newsXpress are now treated and should be treated differently?
Graeme, I have inferred or said no such thing.
GNS negotiates deals and these are available to all newsagents.
Any group can negotiate their own deal and ask GNS to act as a logistics operation for this. The benefit of this is that it uses the GNS infrastructure.
While GNS is a key shareholder, it does not own Newspower.
Wasn`t this about the ANF doing deals with Corporate Express, not GNS doing deals with newspower agents or any other group for that matter???????
I dont know if any group gets treated any different to any other but if anybody can negotiate a deal to save themselves or their group some money is that a bad thing? don`t we all try to do that in our business life? all i know is somehow Marks blog has been twisted around again, cant we stick to the topic at hand???????
Cheers
Al
Again we show ourselves to be less than average retailors. Groups get deals and some get more than others. Guess what ANF is doing a deal with CE becuase they can. Their members may or may not have asked them to do so but newsagents will still benefit. GNS is still behind the times and will continue to be for a long time.
I would love to have my 2% back from the defunct building levy. This is a stupid tax. The romantics out there that want GNS to be for newsagents are kidding themselves.
Mark yes your comments back some years agao were anti GNS and you are entitled to be corrected but they are not a champion for newsagents today as it stands.
For Al’s benefit CE idea, if it every gets off the ground, then let see what they can do. If I can buy Reflex for cheaper than I am now along with other core lines then great.
Mark,
If you re read your own blog 22 and Shaun’s reply your answer 20 to shaun’s blog 18 you are contradicting yourself.
You say you have not inferred that there are deals for special groups i quote you “sometimes groups negotiate special deals with suppliers and bring them to GNS for fullfillment. In these circumstances the negotiating Group deserves to reap the rewards of their work”
That I believe is what Shaun is talking about. I am not saying it is right or wrong but if it is true it is a shift in policy from GNS’s stance of years ago in its philosophy of the individual newsagent was to get the best price no matter how big the group was. GNS believed that groups apart from them fragmented the industry. It is interestinbg that you show a different position.
To me your inference of purchasing power as more for groups than individuals is clearly in your own statement, however I will take your word that your statement is different to what you meant
Brad I think the views reflected in your comment are shortsighted. Why would a newsagent association enter into a deal with a global stationery giant which competes with us? I cannot see any upside for newsagents.
As for my own evolving position, I am prepared to change as I become more informed. What an awful world this would be if we had to live by positions we took in the past.
Al, thanks for reminding us how far off track this tread has become. It is, sadly, a reflection on the channel.
Graeme,
Newspower has negotiated deals for ther members with different suppliers and GNS has, for some years now, provided the logistical means to see those deals fulfilled.
GNS may have originally set itself up for individual newsagents but things change. As the strength of all the marketing groups grow (including the one they are a major shareholder in) they have to accomodate the needs of those groups or risk stunting not only the growth of the newsagents that belong to that group but their own growth as well.
I think we will see GNS change (albeit at a rather glacial pace) some of its old attitudes and practices in the upcomming years. They have not kept up with the marketplace and the needs of their retailers – some serious catchup still needs to be done.
To all that are complaining that the blo9g has gone off track , it happens all the time you can’t complain about it when it is something you disagree with . The beauty of it all is when Mark starts a blog it always turns into something else which says there are a lot more issues out there . If there was a way we could start our own blog post then we could start a topic off but we have to wait for mark to start it then we go from there .
Some off the topic questions from a novice (someone who wanting to enter the industry):
Is GNS the only organisations established for the newsagents? Or are there other organisations that established for the newsagents to get stocks from? How is N-Stock fit into the picture?
Also, is newsXpress getting its stock from the same source as all other newsagencies?
Robert,
GNS is the key supplier of stationery to newsagents. Turns over around $120M a year. It’s newsagent owned.
N-Stock is VANA owned. It’s a fledgling operation and was started, in my view, because of a anger within VANA toward GNS.
newsXpress stores get most but not all their stock from the same sources as other newsagencies – but not always for the same terms.