What ever happened to novelty gift store What’s New?
They were a fixture of shopping centres in the 90s with their footy stubby holders, Holden clocks, Jim Beam bar mats and all the knick-knacks you never knew you wanted or needed. Now only three stores remain in Victoria — so what happened to What’s New?
Lifestyle
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What’s New gift stores were a permanent fixture of suburban shopping centres in the late 90s and into the noughties.
The neon glow beaming from the bright purple and yellow stores lured shoppers with the promise of knick-knacks and gifts we never knew we wanted or needed.
Like AFL merchandise in almost any form you could imagine — coffee mugs, beer glasses, stubby holders, wall-mounted clocks, bar mats or framed premiership team photos.
What’s New was also the supplier of Beanie Kids collectable bears and secured licenses to sell Playboy, Jim Beam, Bundaberg Rum, Jack Daniels, Holden and Ford products.
The store also sold great cards, personalised plates (but never in your name), glow-in-the-dark lava lamps, disco balls and “adults only” items in a section too rude for younger eyes.
Here’s how this humble gift shop became one of Australia’s favourite retail stores of the noughties — and a look at what’s happened to the brand after it started disappearing from our shopping centres.
FAMILY BUSINESS
The first origins of What’s New in Melbourne was as a tobacconist-barber shop in the 1950s.
By 1975, the brand had expanded to a cigarette and gift store and in 1979 the chain Smokes N Things opened.
But when the interest in smoking and tobacco products waned, the owner at the time introduced gifts and novelty items to the equation — and What’s New was born.
The first store opened in Waverley Gardens in 1979 and another in Townsville in Queensland in 1988.
Tony Beaconsfield was one of the owners of What’s New in the 90s and 00s.
In the mid 90s, Beaconsfield and the AFL launched The AFL Store in 17 locations across Victoria, Western Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania.
By the mid 2000s, Tony assumed total ownership of the What’s New business but left the business in 2010.
In the same year, all of the existing franchisees formed a new company What’s New Enterprises Pty Ltd and bought the What’s New business.
FRANCHISE EXPANSION
Rhonda Ryan bought a What’s New franchise just before the gift stores took off in Australia.
It was 1995 and the former teacher and her teacher husband wanted to introduce a new style of store to their hometown of Traralgon.
At the time there was nothing like it in the area.
“It was a boom time in retail and the store really took off,” she recalls.
“We still own and operate it today. We also had stores in Fountain Gate, Morwell and a separate AFL Store in Traralgon which opened in 1996.”
Ms Ryan said when she joined as a franchisee there were30 Victorian stores, and even more in Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania.
At the time the Victorian stores included Bendigo, Shepparton, Mildura, Traralgon, Morwell, Fountain Gate, Dandenong, Craigieburn Central, Cranbourne, Broadmeadows, Highpoint, Frankston, Knox, Epping, Chadstone, Werribee, Northland, Southland, Greensborough, Eastland, Doncaster, The Glen, Forest Hill, Parkmore, Endeavour Hills, Chirnside Park, Plenty Valley, Waverley Gardens, Langwarrin and Kangaroo Flat.
WHAT WENT WRONG?
Over the years, more and more What’s New stores began to close.
Ms Ryan said there were a few reasons for this, one being Beaconsfield’s departure from the group in 2010.
Beaconsfield owned several stores and his departure resulted in the closure of many Victorian franchises.
Rising rent and online shopping also impacted business, but Ms Ryan says a competitive retail industry at the time also led to store closures.
In the early 00s, What’s New was a market leader for selling licensed gifts like AFL products or Beanie Kids.
Today, stores like Kmart are able to sell these products at a fraction of the price.
While it’s hard to say if there’s a direct impact, What’s New also stopped selling cigarettes and tobacco products in 2005.
There’s three What’s New stores remaining in Victoria — Traralgon, Morwell and Shepparton.
Ms Ryan owns both Traralgon and Morwell stores, and The AFL Store in Traralgon.
She closed Fountain Gate’s What’s New last March after 18 years of trade.
Ms Ryan is one of What’s News’ company directors and has big plans for the brand in 2020.
WHAT’S THERE?
Aside from the novelty items What’s New, the business secured the license to sell many major brands in Australia and was one of the first to sell Beanie Kids.
“We ran that program for 12 years,” Ms Ryan said.
“It just grew and grew that program. We initiated the buy one, get one free initiative and we had What’s New official releases that you could only buy from us.”
The AFL Store link at the time also explained the expansive footy merchandise range.
“You could get (AFL) stubby holders, glass mugs, key rings, giftware, novelty clocks … anything really,” she says.
What’s New also had the license for booze brands such as Jim Beam, Bundaberg Rum, Jack Daniels and for Ford and Holden.
Ticketmaster was introduced into the stores in the early 2000s.
“This was to expand the customer base into the business and this operated for some time,” she says.
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WHAT’S NEXT?
Along with opening more stores in Victoria, Ms Ryan said What’s New wanted to expand its online presence in 2020.
What’s New now sells products at their online store.
All three Victorian stores are active on Facebook and post regularly, and last year the group used You Tube to promote their Christmas trade.
Ms Ryan says she’s also looking for people who may want to open their own What’s New store, to help grow the business.
“We want to maintain the store as a fun and unique business, and to be the ‘go to’ store for that special gift purchase,” Ms Ryan says.