Case study: Good read on book industry

When Ann Poublon decided to change from being an independent bookseller to a national chain bookstore owner in the early 1990s, she had no idea how great a role she would play in building that franchise brand in Western Australia.

Mrs Poublon started in the book retail industry when she and her husband opened Garden City News and Books, a combined newsagency and bookstore, in 1976, in the then-relatively new Garden City shopping centre in Booragoon.

About 15 years later Mrs Poublon was approached by several publishers to consider opening the first Dymocks franchise in WA.

She immediately saw the advantages of joining a large group to grow her business and enable her to stay in the industry long term.

“I was very sold on the idea of changing, and I saw more strength in joining a large group,” she told WA Business News.

In addition to her expansion plans, Garden City management also favoured strong, well-known brands for the centre.

“Garden City was expanding at that time, and they were looking for well-known, chain, recognised brands,” Mrs Poublon said.

“We needed a strong brand.”

After positive discussions with the chairman and chief executive of Dymocks, Mrs Poublon decided that the franchise route was the way forward, and set about opening the first Dymocks store in WA, which would be in Claremont, to be run by her daughter.

“It was all just go from then on. It all moved very quickly,” she said.

She said the ability to leverage off the chain’s expertise in branding, store layout, marketing and business model, as well as the reputation of the brand from its success interstate, put the stores at a distinct advantage over some of the lesser known independent retailers.

Apart from the centralised marketing and business formulas, Mrs Poublon maintained control over stock, local marketing initiatives and merchandising.

Mrs Poublon was then appointed WA representative for the chain, tasked with growing the franchise throughout WA.

This involved selecting potential sites for stores, appointing the franchise owners and training.

A combination of commercial nous, a competitive spirit and a passion for the industry resulted in Mrs Poublon establishing nine Dymocks stores in Perth in the space of six years.

Today, Dymocks has 12 stores in WA, including one store in Busselton and one in Mandurah.

Following the winning formula of ‘location, location location’, demographics and the selection of entrepreneurial franchise owners, Mrs Poublon’s on-the-ground efforts helped grow the Dymocks brand in this state.

Mrs Poublon believes selecting suitable franchise owners helps to strengthen the operations of the entire group, with each contributing their own skill sets and innovative ideas.

This, she said, was one of the key challenges in setting up the franchise stores.

“All the franchise owners are a very dedicated group. They’re very enterprising, which strengthens the whole group,” Mrs Poublon told WA Business News.

“Franchisees need strong entrepreneurial skills and strong people skills, strong understanding of business principles.”

Having since relinquished her role as WA representative, Mrs Poublon now concentrates her effort on running the Garden City store.

She recently won her second Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) chain bookseller of the year award, having won the inaugural award in 1992.

She also won the chairman’s award at the recent Dymocks conference, as well as the best merchandising and marketing gong for Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.

She said that, while receiving some support through the franchise system, her own passion, willingness to learn and strong work ethic all contributed to her business success, as well as the support of her business partner and husband, and her family.