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Congratulations to holy Sheet! Springwood for their latest achievement: Best Homewares Retailer in Logan area. “The business is nominated by readers from the Quest newspapers” says Co-owner Nicole Lovelock “The most nominated businesses per category are entered into the finals where those businesses are mystery shopped. The mystery shopping results determine the winner.”
Springwood is a sheetHot store. The staff vitality and fun atmosphere contribute to their superb customer service. “Whenever you have a queue of people at the register waiting to talk to you, you know you’re doing well!” Says Nicole “It’s always enjoyable when we help customers do their bed”
Owners of holy Sheet! Springwood: Nicole Lovelock & Natisha Rice knew they were onto a good thing from the start “It was destiny we both saw the ad for a holy Sheet! franchise in the paper and rang each other and said, ‘Love the name, love linen let's do it!’”
Visit holy Sheet! Springwood at Logan Mega Centre, Slacks Creek – Just south of Brisbane, QLD.
holy Sheet! is now in Burleigh Heads just south of Surfer’s Paradise. holy Sheet! sells the latest in bedroom and bathroom fashion at accessible prices. “The response from customers has been fantastic!” says owner, Marilyn Coulter. The stock, store presentation and location all received the big thumbs up from customers, with one customer even taking on the competition saying “You’ll give Pillowtalk a run for their money!”
Marilyn opened the shop’s doors in November 2007. Her advice for other’s planning to do the same, is simple: “Do your homework! Be prepared. It’s hard work being a franchisee but the rewards are huge” says Marilyn “Job satisfaction, happy customers and great products to promote are just some of the joys of owning a franchise.”
To work in retail, one must truly enjoy social interaction and have a passion for the products they are selling. The owners of holy Sheet! Cairns, truly love retail. Jennifer Johansen & Sherry Kenward are a mother & daughter combination that share an infectious positive attitude to their work. I took the time to interview Jennifer about her experiences with holy Sheet.
Q. Why did you choose holy Sheet! as a franchise?
A. We chose holy Sheet! because of our passion for retailing good quality cotton manchester, for our far north Queensland climate. The passion of the people selling us the business idea was delightful. Their ideas on customer service are similar to our own.
Q. What are some strengths of this company?
The name “holySheet!”, the VIP system; and the support of the owners & staff at holySheet head office
Q. Even on a bad day, you seem to be having fun but what is the best moment you have had in store?
A. Opening the doors the first day, and finally being self employed.
Q. What is your advice for potential franchisees?
Find a good location. You have got to love retailing. Speak to as many other franchisees as possible.
Jennifer & Sherry’s store is now about to turn two. To wish them ‘Happy Birthday’ head to the Smithfield Centre in Cairns.
Tuggeranong is the latest addition to the holy Sheet! family. Born in March this year, Tuggeranong is set to have tremendous success being one of two holy Sheet! stores in ACT. Both of these stores are owned by proud franchise partners, Jason and Mira Hitchick. They enjoyed the success of their Brand Depot shop so much, that they chose to have a second one. Mira has received a great deal of positive feedback with customers commenting on how fresh the store looks. “Tuggeranong has been waiting for something like this for a long time” says Mira “Customers are really enthusiastic about the new store” This new store is located on Level 1 outside Myer, in Tuggeranong Hyperdome.
First holySheet! homewares franchise for Hobart - 129 Liverpool street, Hobart Former book industry executives Denise Hobman and Bryan Gunn are ‘turning the pages’ of their working lives and the couple is excited about what’s in store in the next chapter of their lives. Denise and Bryan became the second franchisees for holySheet! homewares in Tasmania when their store opened in July.
“The philosophy of holySheet! is all about customers having a fun experience and that’s where the company differentiates itself in the marketplace,” Denise said.
holySheet! focuses on the latest fashion trends and their application to bedroom and bathroom homewares. By concentrating on the right product selection for its customers, holySheet! is building a solid share of the market. The High Street, Hobart store will be the 28th holySheet! store across Australian and including New Zealand.
It’s certainly a challenging time for Denise and Bryan who are relishing the Tasmanian lifestyle change from the hectic pace of the Sydney and Melbourne corporate world.
In her last position whilst working for a book publisher in Sydney, Denise says she had to endure a reporting process where she had to answer to no less than six different bosses over a five year period – "a very daunting experience particularly when having to cope with all their whims and idiosyncracies,” she explained. ”My partner and I are relishing the change of scenery since moving to Tasmania. We are breeding alpacas on our property outside of Hobart and will attempt to continue with the venture, fully realising of course that our time will be limited given our exciting new holySheet! project."
Denise is adamant that she and Bryan made the right business choice in selecting a holySheet! franchise. "The store site is well positioned in the High Street shopping precinct. Hobart and the surrounding suburbs have many first home buyers and this is one of the markets we will be attacking. There is a lot of demand for new housing at present and much growth in the residential property market generally. Consequently many of those home buyers will be seeking quality homewares products at affordable prices – quilts, sheets, pyjamas, cushions, towels… even rubber duckies for the bathroom."
"The philosophy of holySheet! suits Bryan and I to a tee. Given the fact that over 50 per cent of the company's products have been developed in-house in the latest range of textile colours and designs, we just can’t wait to make a significant contribution to the Hobart retail scene," Denise enthused.
The new re-vamped Milford Mall contains high-fashion and innovative stores. Just 3 doors down from Witchery’s first NZ store, is the newest holy Sheet! in NZ. holySheet! may be an Australian homewares chain but it was founded by two Kiwis. “New Zealand is a fertile market for us because there is no speciality retail chain providing accessible, contemporary bedroom fashion.” Says CEO, Edmund George “We leverage on the volume of our Aussie franchise stores that provide manchester fashion at affordable prices.
” holy Sheet! Milford opened its doors in November 2007 and is located on Milford Rd: Shop 110, Milford Mall, Auckland NZ.
holy Sheet! are expanding rapidly. This homewares store stocks an exclusive product that is luxurious and fashionable. Their success has gained them a listing in BRW’s top 50 fastest growing franchises. Out of the 1400 franchise systems in Australia, holy Sheet! are listed at no. 24 in terms of retail growth and rank 44th for revenue growth.
Holy Sheet! first opened its doors 17 years ago and has been franchising since 2000. Today, you will find 30 holy Sheet! stores dotted around Australia and New Zealand. If you can see yourself wearing a black apron and running a business, call Edmund George on 02 9565 1163 for more information.
holySheet! has some key franchisees that own multiple stores. But unlike other franchisees, Gail Warren is juggling not only two stores, but two different franchises. Gail owns both holySheet! and House in Kalgoorlie. The challenge of managing two separate stores is steadied by the advantage that the homewares competition is her!
“Both businesses are in the homewares market. What makes things a little easier is the fact that both stores attract customers from the same demographic grouping” Says Gail. “Being part of these Franchises (as opposed to being independent) allows us to retain enough individuality to accommodate our own market while utilising the systems, buying scale & assistance provided by the Franchise.”
“We felt that the homewares industry still had a lot of growth within it & we saw holySheet! as a young vibrant player & as a point of difference in what is traditionally a staid business in the marketplace.”
House is not new to the holySheet! family. In 1992, founders of holySheet! Danny Hochberg and Edmund George, bought the first House store to be opened in NSW. Danny & Edmund went on to become the state managers for House, finding franchisees and sites, opening shops and supporting the stores in NSW. In 1997 they sold their last House store to concentrate on holySheet!
holySheet! Kalgoorlie is making big sales at a consistent rate and shows no sign of slowing down. So what’s the driving force behind this success? Gail says that the ultimate goal for staff in Kalgoorlie is “self satisfaction of having their customer rushing out of the store to get home to make up their new look bed.” You can see staff motivation just by looking at their sales figures.
Gail’s advice for potential franchisees? “To realise that having your own business is a way of life, that it is your life, to always be open to self examination, be able to adopt & to live the culture, be able to work within a team & to remember that your customers are your living - without them you won’t have a business.”
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