With Hamish Cameron’s permission I share here his note to me on the sale of his Albany Western Australia business, lessons learned and what’s next:
Well the time has come to move into another direction and exit the retail space.
Within 10 days of listing the business for sale I had two cash offers presented which does speak to the attraction of a relevant, well presented and profitable business.
As you would see regularly, trying to sell a newsagency isn’t always such a straight forward proposition – the hard work has finally paid off.
So as I drift into the sunset of my retail career and reflect on why this business has worked so well I find myself returning to Community Engagement.
Aside from Product, Presentation and People the contribution to the community we live in has been critical in securing and growing market share in this regional town.
I thought I would share this with you as something of a positive story, we all need to hear positive things especially in the retail industry.
I hope you share this with that in mind, will leave that completely up to you.
We were approached by the Albany Youth Services Assoc to help with their fundraiser and awareness campaign around the plight of Homelessness and the impact it has on the community.
Following in the footsteps of various CEO Sleep outs around the country the AYSA again held this event in the town square. Apart from rolling out the swag for the night I was keen to help in whatever way I could.
Utilizing our window display was always a going to help raise some awareness, to compliment this we placed donation tins at the counter and set up an online donation page through our ticketing software.
All money raised is going towards buying emergency bedding in the form of Backpack Beds (swags) that local agencies can supply to people and families that find themselves in this horrendous predicament.
We raised $5300, which will purchase 35 swags – hardly world changing I know, but for some hopefully it’s the first thing to go right in a long time.
Yes we have run many similar type things over the years although this one will stick with me. Two things happened.
- I watched a middle aged lady standing in front of the display, she was nodding as she was reading the message, promptly pulled out her phone, took a photo and shared it on social media.
- She then walked into the shop, put two $50 notes into the tin and said word for word “What you are is what you do, what you do is fucking awesome, there is no other business like this – I am proud to be a customer”.
Passion, Engagement, Ownership and Pride – we all want this from staff, getting it from customers is truly the retail holy grail.
I will be hanging around until the January handover (had to get one more Christmas bonus) and will keep an eye on the blog until then. May look at doing some retail consulting next year and freelance window displays in the industry – a clear weak point in the newsagency sector. Who knows, maybe make some newsXpress Stores actually look 21st Century, contemporary and cool…… break those long tried, repetitive, lazy and tired presentation techniques so synonymous with the industry!
Anyway, I also want to say thank you for your input into my business over the years. While I may not always agree or have a different take on a story I do appreciate the effort you make to educate, question and champion newsagents and their industry. In all sincerity – Well Done, good luck and thank you.