I was up in Cairns this morning and noticed this internet cafe in the front corner of a Woolworths supermarket. To me, this indicates how resourceful the supermarket giant is in chasing revenue. It’s a Global Gossip store within a store. I found this interesting because an internet cafe is not something you’d usually see a major supermarket group take on, even in a major tourist destination – unless they can make money out of it. That they have an internet cafe in a supermarket in cairns says something about the flexibility of Woolworths with their model. It is a reminder of their relentless pursuit of revenue.
Looking at the internet cafe inside the walls of Woolworths reminded me that we need to go where the money is and that we need to be commercially flexible with our model.
Just because much of what we sell today is low and fixed margin does not mean we need to stick with.
We need to be as commercially opportunistic with our businesses as Woolworths is with theirs.
True, but in many cases the permitted use clause will determine your limits, attempts to alter that clause can often end in frustration as the centre manager protects other stores. I note however the number of stores selling cards and wrap particularly is growing weekly.
Our lease allows us to use the premises for ANY use available to us through industry specific suppliers or promoted under the newspress banner.
A clause worded this way gives us FULL rights to stock anything availabe from GNS or the newsXpress preferred supplier list. All newsagencies should have this as part of their lease agreement as it gives us as an industry, the ability to develope our offering in the same manner the majors do. Coles, Woolworths etc for example do whatever they want in most centres and we, if clever can do the same.
15 years ago (perhaps more), the brilliant Fergal Quinn who owned the SuperQuinn chain of supermarkets in Ireland had Creches at the entrances to his stores manned by qualified childcare people.
He had cameras on the creche and monitors all around his store so parents could then walk around the supermarket and see thier children were OK from literally anywhere in the store.
Now that is genius customer service…..15 years ago. You don’t see that sort of forward thinking customer service anymore.