Sorry, we don’t think newsagents are right for us.
No, we only supply gift shops.
Newsagents aren’t right for us we prefer to be in baby shops.
Sorry but we prefer homewares shops over newsagents.
Yep, these are comments from a small number of wilfully ignorant suppliers at the gift fair in Melbourne this past weekend. They said it based on what they think a shingle stands for without looking at the business of the person asking, their website or their sales breakdown.
One gift wholesaler turned a newsagent doing $300,000 a year in gifts – more than plenty of gift shops near the newsagency.
One baby product supplier turned down a newsagent doing $60,000 a year in baby plush and related without even asking their baby related sales data.
The small number of suppliers turning down newsagents because they are newsagents are idiots. I kinda hope they lose sales as a result.
Now, on to good news about the trade show. There were plenty of premium gift and homewares suppliers happy to supply newsagents from businesses that are advanced in their transition from the traditional. These suppliers see opportunity.
Stand alone gift shops are finding it tough, you can see that in business closure and change of hands rates. The diversity of shopper reach many in our channel achieve is what makes us appealing to suppliers (smart suppliers at least) looking for longer term relationships.
Yes, I experienced this for the first time yesterday.
Absolutely livid that I was told ‘we do not supply to newsagents’. I could not believe my ears.
But as you say we then moved on to find some fantastic products and suppliers.