Trends in newsagency sales

In this period of consolidation in the newsagency channel we are seeing activity unlike any we have seen before.  One possible trend which has been mentioned to me is the purchasing of a rural or regional newsagency by a fuel outlet, the running of the newsagency without change for up to a year and then the merging of the newsagency into the fuel outlet, losing much of what defined the newsagency as a newsagency along the way. The question put to me was whether such business purchases were being done to access a lottery licence as this is the only fuel outlets cannot get easily.

I call this a possible trend as only a couple of people have mentioned it and between them only three examples were provided. I am curious as to whether others have heard about this and whether they think it is a trend.

There are a few issues at play here for me. People selling their newsagency businesses will want to maximise their exit price. I understand and respect that. Towns want a newsagency and maybe more depending on population. Seeing a business close is not an ideal situation for many towns, especially if some newsagency specific services and product ranges are lost to the town. Rules and goals around  the types of business which offer newsagency services like lotteries have been put in place for a reason and I wouldn’t want those skirted without transparent discussion.

There is no doubt that consolidation is afoot and that change is the order of the day. This is ultimately good news for newsagents and their suppliers. Those of us who embrace and pursue change can come out the other side with stronger and healthier businesses.