Franchise Direct Industry News: Retail Franchises

Retail Franchises News

Card Connection Franchisee Aims to ‘More than Double’ Profits Despite the Credit Crunch

December 1, 2008. Leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection’s franchisee for Richmond and Ealing, Theo Kleanthous, is aiming to ‘more than double’ profits despite the widely publicised credit crunch.

Apollo Blinds unveils dates of 2009 Discovery Days

November 27, 2008. Apollo Blinds has announced the dates of its Discovery Days for 2009, where potential franchise investors can spend a day meeting the team and learning more about the UK’s largest chain of window blinds stores.

Card Connection Franchisee Acquires Hertford Area in Time for Christmas Sales

November 13, 2008. Card Connection announced that its Chelmsford franchisee has further increased the size of his territory by acquiring the Hertford area just in time to introduce Christmas sales stock.

Card Connection’s New Irish Franchisee is Ready for Business

October 15, 2008. Ex-publican, Gabriel McGeown, has been appointed as the new Irish franchisee for leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection.

Card Connection Appoints New Franchisee for Loughborough / Leicester Areas

October 2, 2008. Leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection has today announced it has appointed new franchisee, Mark Miller, to take over the Loughborough / Nuneaton and Leicester / East Corby areas.

Apollo Blinds launches new Apollo at Home franchise

September 30, 2008. Apollo Blinds is launching Apollo at Home – a new entry level opportunity to become part of the UK’s largest and most successful window blinds franchise network – which will be unveiled at the National Franchise Exhibition at Birmingham’s NEC (3rd–4th October).

Card Connection Franchisee for Dublin Achieves Highest Unit Sales in the Company’s History.

September 18, 2008. Dublin-based Card Connection franchisee Pat Blake breaks a company record for monthly unit sales!

Michael Paul's vision

September 15, 2008. Michael Paul started his one stop shop to pack and deliver anything in Australia in 1993 and now Pack & Send is looking to globally expand with 400 stores across the UK and Ireland.

Pack & Send arrives in the UK

September 15, 2008. Pack & Send, Australia's number one operator in retail packaging and freight forwarding, is expanding to the UK, with its sight set on making huge inroads into the UK market.

Card Connection Launches New Management Focused Strategy to Help Franchisees Maximise Profits

August 14, 2008. Card Connection has today announced it has launched a new management focused business strategy to help its franchisees maximise profits.

Apollo launched into cyberspace

July 24, 2008. Inspiring consumers and supporting its network of franchisees are the key reasons why Apollo Blinds has launched its new website.

Apollo franchisees set to cash in on awnings boom

July 10, 2008. Apollo Blinds has introduced a new range of awnings in a bid to help its franchisees cash in on the boom in the outdoor protection market.

Innovative Greeting Card Designs Launched by Card Connection

June 19, 2008. Mums will always be key targets for card publishers and leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection, is keeping these important customers happy with two new groups of innovative releases over the coming weeks: Licensed Character cards and Flashing Badge Format cards.

Ireland is ‘Top Trumps’ at Card Connection’s Franchisee Awards

June 10, 2008. Pat Blake, Card Connection franchisee for Dublin has been named the winner of leading greeting card and publisher, Card Connection’s highly prized Franchisee of the Year award, for achieving the highest level of sales of greeting cards across the company’s team of almost 100 franchisees.

Card Connection Franchisees Rewarded for Referrals

May 27, 2008. Card Connection announces that four of its UK franchisees have been rewarded with £500 cash because they referred friends or family to buy a Card Connection franchise territory this past year.

Apollo Blinds launches new ‘wow factor’ Roman collection

May 12, 2008. Apollo Blinds has launched a new collection of Roman blinds which has the ‘wow factor’ and has been well received by the company’s network of franchisees in Ireland.

Card Connection Franchisee Doubles Size of Business with Acquisition of New Territory

May 8, 2008. Card Connection has announced its Chelmsford franchisee, Paul Davis, has doubled the size of his business with the acquisition of the neighbouring Colchester territory.

Card Connection Franchisees Improve Productivity by 20% With Introduction of Electronic Hand-Held Terminals

April 30, 2008. Card Connection announced its franchisees are becoming 20% more productive with the introduction of new electronic hand-held terminals that help calculate stock levels automatically.

Budding franchisees urged to learn from TV’s Apprentice

April 17, 2008. Ian Thornton from Apollo Blinds believes anyone who is thinking about starting their own business is advised to watch the BBC One programme as an example of what not to do in order to be successful in business.

Card Connection Becomes Part of UK Greetings Ltd

April 14, 2008. Card Connection has announced it has become part of UK Greetings Limited as of 26 March 2008. UK Greetings (UKG) is the British subsidiary of American Greetings Inc AG. It is the world’s largest publicly owned greeting card company and the largest direct to retail greeting card publisher in the UK.

Richard Harkness Builds A Future

April 1, 2008. The motivation and self-discipline Richard Harkness learned in his decade with the Royal Engineers has helped him build a secure bridge to the future with Snap-on Tools.

Card Connection Celebrates Success at Sweet Sixteen

March 30, 2008. Card Connection has this week been celebrating its sixteenth successful year in business with results that managing director Robina Every describes as: “even stronger than expected.”

Prémaman Launch Their First Franchise From Crawley

March 23, 2008. Father of three Simon Checkley identified a gap in the market, saying, “Parents want quality, affordability and choice when it comes to items for their children like clothing, children’s furniture and accessories.” Simon is the first franchisee in the UK and he has plans to open further Prémaman stores in areas such as Worthing, Chicester and Tunbridge Wells when the time and location are right.

Card Connection Extends Handmade Card Design Range

March 15, 2008. Following the success of its initial Handmade greeting card offering leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection, has today announced the extension of its Handmade design range.

New Arrival on the Scene for Babies, Kid’s and Mum’s-to-be!

March 10, 2008. For over fifty years Prémaman has been providing high quality products at affordable prices worldwide and the brand has successfully launched in Ireland and is now set to take the UK market by storm.

Expanding ranges to benefit Apollo Blinds franchisees

March 1, 2008. Franchisees at Apollo Blinds are set to benefit from a planned increase in the range of products they will have available this year. Britain’s biggest blinds store chain already offers the widest choice of products but its range is set to get bigger as the company looks at ways in which it can help franchisees to offer their customers an emporium of blinds and accessories.

Card Connection Appoints New Senior Franchise Manager

February 22, 2008. Card Connection has announced the appointment of Darren Bull as its new senior franchise manager.

Card Connection Franchises Are Popular Choice

February 18, 2008. Card Connection announced it has recruited 14 new franchisees to run territories throughout the UK and Ireland in the past six months – three already in 2008.

Woman In A Man’s World

February 1, 2008. Keeley Davison proves you don’t have to be male to run a successful Snap-on franchise by prospering in a male-dominated environment.

Business Expansion is on the Cards

January 30, 2008. In 2002 Pat Blake was working as a transport manager for Pizza Express in Uxbridge. However, after three years, the gruelling commute to and from Dublin each week finally led him to look for a different career. It was at this point he discovered Card Connection.

Card Connection Strengthens Management Team With New Sales & Franchise Director

January 15, 2008. Following its best ever year, leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection, has strengthened its management team with the appointment of new sales & franchise director, David Whelan. With the goal of further increasing the profitability of Card Connection’s network of franchisees across the UK and Ireland, one of Whelan’s main responsibilities will be to develop and extend the company’s relationship with its national retail account network.

Card Connection Launches Christmas Gift Selection

December 22, 2007. Card Connection has launched a new selection of seasonal gifts to add to its Gift Connection range, which will be available in retail stores across the UK in time for Christmas.

Apollo Blinds’ Irish brace

December 13, 2007. Dublin & Belfast Irish eyes are smiling on Apollo Blinds as it has opened two new showrooms within a week. It officially opened a store in Dublin at the end of November and opened the second one a week later north of the border in Belfast. Apollo Blinds has more than 85 stores across the UK and Ireland which are operated through individual franchise agreements.

UK’s top franchisor promotes for global growth

November 1, 2007. Snap-on Tools has launched a drive to become the top franchisor in the world with a reorganisation of its top management. The Kettering-based company is building rapidly after winning the UK Franchisor of the Year award in May 2007 against 700 other franchisors. The British Franchise Association awards, sponsored by the Daily Express and HSBC Bank, honour the franchise sector’s annual £10 billion contribution to the UK economy.

Card Connection to Launch New Memorial Card to Remember Colleague

October 18, 2007. Card Connection, is launching a new memorial card in memory of Heidi Sulley, one of the company’s business development managers, who sadly passed away in 2005. Part of the sales proceeds from the birthday card which features a humorous design entitled ‘older and better’ will be donated to The Samaritans.

Card Connection Appoints Robina Every as Managing Director

September 29, 2007. Following its best ever year, Card Connection, has today announced the appointment of Robina Every as its new managing director. Every, who will celebrate her tenth anniversary with Card Connection this month, takes over the day-to-day running of the organisation from company founder Simon Hulme who moves into the role of chairman.

Apollo Blinds confirmed as UK’s leading franchise network

September 10, 2007. Apollo Blinds has cemented its position as the UK’s leading window blinds retailer ahead of the most important date in the franchising calendar – National Franchise Week (1–7 October).

Prémaman announces UK Franchise Expansion for 2008

August 24, 2007. Prémaman, Belgium’s largest exporter of children’s wear, accessories and maternity wear has announced its intention to open five new franchise stores in the UK during 2008. Following a period of rapid expansion in Ireland where nine stores were opened in 2007, representing an investment of over £4 million, Premaman are seeking suitable franchisees to become franchise partners in one of retail’s fastest growing sectors.

New collection books added to Apollo Blinds range

August 22, 2007. Apollo Blinds has added two new collections to its range of window blinds. Britain’s biggest blinds store chain has launched Pinoleum and Pleated collections to complement its ranges of Roller, Vertical and Venetian blinds.

Card Connection Recruits New Franchisees

July 12, 2007. Card Connection announced the two latest recruits to its greeting card franchise operation as Kuljit Jandoo, who is taking over the Dartford/Gravesend territory, and Bal Pardesi, who is buying the Maidstone/Chatham area. Kuljit and Bal join more than 100 Card Connection franchisees in the UK and Ireland.

Apollo Blinds winners waltz over to Vienna

June 1, 2007. The top performing franchisees at Apollo Blinds were whisked off on a five star luxury weekend break in Vienna as a reward for helping the company boost its turnover. The incentive scheme run by Britain’s biggest blinds store chain generated a 15% sales increase in the six months to the end of April this year as compared to the same period last year.

‘Stay put homeowners’ spending on their houses

March 17, 2007. A window blinds company with stores in Ireland is starting to see an increase in sales as a result of a rise in the number of homeowners who are staying put and splashing the cash on their homes rather than on selling their properties.

OUR LOSS IS OUR GAIN!

February 1, 2007. Encouraging talent and nurturing strength is a Snap-on tradition, so we have recruited Franchisees from many different walks of life, and as you know you don’t need to have a background in the industry to succeed. Never before have we recruited a Dealer from our Customer Services office, until now… Lynne Williams!

BAFTA duo delight Apollo Blinds with new DVD

December 1, 2006. Britain’s biggest blind store chain has turned to one of the UK’s most innovative animation teams to produce its new promotional DVD. Apollo Blinds brought in Berger & Wyse because it was impressed with the team’s animations for TV programme sequences such as BBC1’s Hustle. The BAFTA nominated duo have brought to life Apollo Blinds’ new corporate branding to show just how much the light and shapes in a room are influenced by window blinds. “We knew we wanted something visually stunning and engaging, but the end product has surpassed all our expectations,” said Patrick Harrison, general manager at Apollo. Apollo Blinds has more than 85 franchised stores across the UK and Ireland.

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