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 AUSTRALIA
FRANCHISE NEWS ARCHIVE
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: : Jan-Jun 2004
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Mortgage broker paves way for market listing. Investment
bank UBS has been meeting brokers and fund managers in Melbourne this
week, drumming up excitement about Mortgage Choice's latest attempt
at a float. .... [more]
26/6/04
Metcash to go overseas, but not Asia. Metcash Trading
chief Andrew Reitzer has ruled out Asia as a hunting ground for a
fourth pillar business as it seeks to lift sales 40 per cent in five
years. .... [more]
25/6/04
Brambles splits CHEP in two. Brambles Industries Ltd
has split its flagship CHEP pallet business in two, with the division's
global chief executive Victor Mendes to leave in a week. .... [more]
24/6/04
Float for mortgage broker gets nod. After several attempts
over the years to get the float away and the doom and gloom surrounding
the housing and IPO markets, UBS is pushing ahead regardless with
the $141 million float of mortgage broker Mortgage Choice. .... [more]
22/6/04
Franklins groomed for Metcash fight. The chief of South
Africa's Pick 'n Pay, Sean Summers, yesterday put rival Metcash Trading
on notice, flagging plans for the Franklins business in Australia
to become an alternative supplier for independent retailers. ....
[more]
18/6/04
Harvey Norman hits back at rumours. Retailer Harvey
Norman Holdings Ltd moved to quash market speculation its business
had hit a snag by unexpectedly releasing figures showing sales for
the 11 months to May were up 16 per cent. .... [more]
15/6/04
Spitting chips, McDonalds fights back. After many weeks
of silence, McDonald's is fighting back. The fast-food company will
this week embark on a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to
counter the documentary film Super Size Me. .... [more]
14/6/04
Boost puts Viva through blender. Four years ago the
bosses of the Boost and Viva juice bars sat down to talk about merging
their fledgling companies. .... [more]
11/6/04
Mortgage Choice rounds out board before float. Mortgage
Choice took a step closer to listing on the Australian Stock Exchange
yesterday with the announcement that it was enlarging its board. ....
[more]
10/6/04
Boost Juice eyes ASX listing. Australian juice bar chain
Boost Juice has bought out its major competitor, Viva Juice and opened
its one hundredth store. .... [more]
10/6/04
The franchise – at your convenience. An increasingly
time-poor society is fuelling a boom in the franchise industry. ....
[more]
5/6/04
Retail Cube in starting blocks for stockmarket run. Retail
Cube, a company that has interests as diverse as shoes, knives and
paint, says it has firm offers for more than 50 per cent of the funds
it is trying to drum up for a stock exchange listing. .... [more]
29/5/04
Mortgage Choice loans face scrutiny. Mortgage Choice,
one of Australia's largest mortgage brokers, has been told it may
have to review the sale of up to 50,000 mortgages and face compensation
claims for making misleading and deceptive claims to customers. ....
[more]
27/5/04
CHEP faces risk of more compo: analyst. Pallet distributor
CHEP, owned by Brambles Industries Ltd, faces a risk of having to
increase compensation it pays to pallet recyclers in the United States.
.... [more]
24/5/04
$20m public offer. Retail Cube Ltd, the owner
of the Athletes Foot shoe store chain, has kicked off a $20 million public share
offer. .... [more]
21/5/04
Metcash to unite small liquor stores to take on big
boys. Liquor wholesaler Metcash Trading plans to marshal 1000 independent
liquor stores into a "third force" by 2005 to take on heavyweights Coles
Myer and Woolworths. .... [more]
19/5/04
Brambles to appeal against US pallet twist. Brambles
Industries said yesterday it was confident of winning an appeal against a US company
that was awarded $US584,000 ($A850,000) in an unusual court ruling. .... [more]
15/5/04
Post strikers threaten more action. Postal workers
in NSW threatened further industrial action if Australia Post management does
not return to the negotiating table. .... [more]
13/5/04
Postal strike begins. Australia Post
workers around the country started a 24-hour strike this morning over stalled
enterprise agreement negotiations and plans to franchise post offices. .... [more]
13/5/04
Managers step in for posties. Australia Post
will use non-union staff to limit the impact of a 24-hour strike in three states
tomorrow. .... [more]
12/5/04
Postal workers plan national strike. Postal
workers are preparing to launch the first national postal strike for nearly 20
years next week as they clash with management over pay and plans to franchise
post offices. .... [more]
7/5/04
Harvey takes bond route. Harvey Norman Holdings,
Australia's biggest furniture and electronics retailer, plans to sell its first
bonds, backed by its property, and use the money to fund expansion. .... [more]
4/5/04
Franchisees under the pump. Caltex has warned
its service station operators that one in five franchisees who do not participate
in its co-branded petrol alliance with Woolworths will be worse off and could
close. .... [more]
30/4/04
Caltex acts over memo. Caltex Australia said
some employees would be leaving the company and others would be disciplined over
a memo proposing the use of fear and other unacceptable tactics in negotiations
with service station franchisees. .... [more]
24/4/04
BreakFree's grand resort plan. Holiday and
management rights group BreakFree yesterday said it would create Victoria's
largest resort after it acquired the management rights for beachfront
resort Erskine on the Beach, on the Great Ocean Road. .... [more]
23/4/04
McDonald's tragedy turns Kingsford boy into burger
king. The Golden Arches were at half-mast at Kingsford
McDonald's yesterday. But Australia's flag flew more proudly than
ever and the toilets were spotless. .... [more]
21/4/04
McSalads bring back health. Peddling salads,
apples and low-fat muffins alongside Big Macs and Sausage and Egg McMuffins has
proved a lucrative move for McDonald's Australia, which has bounced back from
a loss to post a fat profit last year. .... [more]
20/4/04
Harvey Norman on track to 10pc growth. Electronics
and furniture retailer Harvey Norman will finish the full year with comparable
store sales growth of more than 10 per cent, executive chairman Gerry Harvey says.
.... [more]
16/4/04
Caltex named in fuel subsidy claim. Oil giant
Caltex is facing fresh claims by angry franchisees that it has saved millions
of dollars at motorists' expense by manipulating a Federal fuel subsidy. ....
[more]
10/4/04
Child-care industry faces up to growing pains.
Newcomers to the sector are finding it's not all child's play, as competition
mounts for a slice of the corporate market. .... [more]
9/4/04
Harvey Norman shares climb. Shares in Harvey
Norman Holdings Ltd defied a weaker retail sector to close nearly three per cent
higher on Thursday. .... [more]
8/4/04
Phone call brews coffee on wheels. Drive-through
coffee outlets had been common in the US for almost 10 years. Intrigued, Mr Muzeroll
headed to Australia to check the lie of the land. .... [more]
3/4/04
Jobs in limbo as shoe chain close. More than
60 workers face losing a total of up to $200,000 in wages, superannuation and
holiday pay after the collapse of discount shoe chain Speeds Shoes. .... [more]
2/4/04
Subway king aims to be bigger than Mac's. The
American co-founder of the Subway chain believes his rapidly expanding network
of franchised outlets will overtake the number of McDonald's restaurants in Australia
within the next 12 months. .... [more]
1/4/04
ANZ establishes mortgage franchises. ANZ Banking
Group said it will establish 15 mortgage franchises in Melbourne, Sydney and Queensland
by July with the goal of rolling out 175 nationally. .... [more]
31/3/04
Doubts over quick end to Caltex fracas. Uncertainty
gripped the Caltex and Woolworths petrol joint venture late yesterday after the
Federal Court adjourned a hearing into a dispute between Caltex and hundreds of
its disgruntled franchisees. .... [more]
31/3/04
ABC pays $13m for centres and college. ABC
Learning Centres yesterday increased its slice of the child-care market, striking
a deal with two private operators to acquire 11 centres and a training college
in Cairns. .... [more]
30/3/04
BreakFree sells Surfers tower for $7.75m. Gold
Coast unit manager BreakFree has finally covered the cost of a protracted takeover
battle with rival S8 Ltd by selling its corporate headquarters. .... [more]
22/3/04
Discount variety retailers in big guns' firing line.
The expansion of bargain-basement discount stores in Australia is attracting the
attention of the big store chains such as Kmart and Big W. .... [more]
18/3/04
Eagle Boys ready for landing. Ballarat's pizza
war is set to intensify with Eagle Boys Pizza looking to beef up the competition.
.... [more]
16/3/04
New Clicks ready to expand after buy-out. The
management of retailer New Clicks Australia has completed a $107 million buyout
of the company from its South African parent and is on the lookout for acquisitions.
.... [more]
19/2/04
Harvey World travels down profitable road.
Incentives for franchisees, growth in travel insurance sales and a healthy market
helped Harvey World Travel report a $1.48 million net profit after tax for the
first half yesterday. .... [more]
18/2/04
Macca's fries competitors. McDonald's, under
the leadership of Jim Cantalupo and Australian Charlie Bell, has mounted one of
this year's most impressive corporate turnarounds. .... [more]
17/2/04
Poh Kong extending franchise to Australia.
Malaysian jeweller Poh Kong Holdings Bhd is banking on former customers who have
migrated to Australia to gain a foothold in the country within a year. .... [more]
11/2/04
Harvey Norman operators in WA charged. Almost
150 charges have been laid against a number of operators of Harvey Norman stores
in Western Australia for defying a Sunday trading ban. .... [more]
11/2/04
ABC unveils big plan to run schools. ABC Learning
Centres will become the first Australian public company to operate a school under
a significant expansion plan unveiled yesterday. .... [more]
4/2/04
Pitfalls when buying a franchise. Buying a franchise
is a popular choice for people wanting to run their own business. But there are
some dangers. .... [more]
31/1/04
Franchised cafe chain poised for expansion. Queensland-based
Hog's Breath Cafe has become one of the country's biggest and fastest growing
chains of themed franchise eateries. .... [more]
27/1/04
MiniMovers on expansion trail. Brisbane-based
short-distance moving company MiniMovers is ready to expand across Australia,
but first it needs to find the right staff. .... [more]
26/1/04
Retailer's $1.9 billion falls short. Retailing
chain Harvey Norman has blamed lower than expected sales of air-conditioners due
to cooler weather for taking the heat out of its first-half sales results. ....
[more]
23/1/04
Payless Car Rental Expands Down Under With New Affiliate
Agreement. Payless Car Rental System, Inc. announced today an affiliate
agreement with Network Car & Truck Rentals Australia expanding the Payless
brand to Australia and New Zealand. .... [more]
20/1/04
Prices fall as tensions rise in Aussie pizza price
war. The pizza war in Wendouree is heating up as operators slash prices
to match their competition. .... [more]
19/1/04
Talk of Brambles break-up gathers support.
Brambles shares advanced again yesterday as rumours circulated that the troubled
logistics group may be considering a break-up. .... [more]
15/1/04
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