Irish savages failure of CTNs to stock top lines Independent CTNs were this week given a stark warning by John Irish ­ embrace symbol group values or die. The former Spar boss told the National Federation of Retail Newsagents' annual conference in Torquay that a lack of leadership on commercial issues meant independent newsagents were "losing the war" with other, better equipped retailers. Irish is leading a project for NFSL 2000 ­ the NFRN's commercial arm ­ aimed at helping members raise standards, concentrate on the most profitable lines and introduce elements of convenience to their businesses. Retail groups and suppliers including Spar, Londis and P&H McLane have agreed to provide extra support for federation members who want to switch to symbol retailing. As part of the project, NFSL 2000 has developed two formats of its own ­ Quix and News Etc, currently being trialled. One or both will be retained and offered to the wider membership. Irish told delegates in Torquay: "Since beginning this project I have visited many shops, a few very good, most mediocre and some dreadful." Branding CTNs "the least changed retail format in 40 years" Irish said a lack of data from its 23,500 members had left the federation as an organisation which knew nothing about itself. Irish has analysed information from more than 700 federation members who do use EPoS, and claims the data makes alarming reading. Out of the thousands of products sold by the newsagents, he found just one common line ­ The Sun ­ in every shop. He said: "This is independence gone mad. The average newsagent does not carry over half of the top selling 500 lines. Is it surprising the average CTN is 7% down on last year?" And Irish warned NFRN members that unless they modernised their shops, stocked the right lines, merchandised properly and opened longer hours, this decline would continue. By contrast, Irish said the first outlets taking part in the model shop project had achieved an average 23% sales uplift. Londis sales director Terry Bedford claimed the NFRN contained the potential for £3bn worth of sales growth if its members adopted symbol group values. "Chains like T&S are CTN based specialist convenience retailers, and are very successful. You excel at certain things. All I'm suggesting is you broaden your offering and be more appropriate to the consumer," Bedford said. {{NEWS }}

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