NightOwl Convenience Stores is a
franchised system of convenience stores operating in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
- predominantly in the state of
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
.
History
The NightOwl, established by Don Halliwell and Rod Craig, opened in 1975 in the
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
suburb of
Auchenflower. The store pre-dated
7-Eleven
7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. A ...
opening in Australia by 12 months. The store traded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, offering an extensive range of traditional supermarket grocery items-together with fresh fruit, vegetables and hot bbq chickens. The store was popular with the growing student and
yuppy
Yuppie, short for "young urban professional" or "young upwardly-mobile professional", is a term coined in the early 1980s for a young professional person working in a city. The term is first attested in 1980, when it was used as a fairly neu ...
community in the district. The business concept was franchised in 1987.
In 1995, NightOwl was floated on the
stock exchange
A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for th ...
and was bought out by
Retail Services Limited
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
in 1996. RSL is a diversified holdings group mainly based in the retail sector, this helped take NightOwl nationwide
The NightOwl business was purchased by David Hodge in September 2001. The companies Senior Management was changed and the business was re-aligned with a new focus being placed upon growth. Store livery was modernised, multiple-site franchisees were encouraged within the business and investment in training was increased. Taking up the Chair of the 'Australasian Association of Convenience Stores' (AACS) for 2003 and 2004, NightOwl increased its profile within the industry and played host to regular AACS functions within Queensland.
In 2007, the Franchise business was sold to Adam Adams and his company Think Convenience.
Adam and his wife Katrina are also the owners of six NightOwl stores in Cairns and North Queensland. As part of a strategy to increase growth dynamically, Think Convenience has re-introduced the company store method of expansion used extensively by Retail Services and discontinued by David Hodge. In order to facilitate the development of new regions and states, company-owned and operated stores were established. In regions like
Townsville
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...
in Queensland, this has ensured new growth where initially franchisees were not available. Once established in this new area, NightOwl can then encourage franchising using company stores as examples of the business system.
See also
*
List of franchises
This is a list of franchised businesses.
#
* 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, junk removal
* 241 Pizza, pizza
* 7-Eleven, convenience store
* 2001 Club, former disco nightclubs
A
* A&W Restaurants, fast food
* AAMCO Transmissions, automotive
* Aaron's, I ...
References
External links
The NightOwlOfficial website
{{Convenience stores
Australian companies established in 1975
Retail companies established in 1975
Convenience stores of Australia
Companies based in Brisbane