NEW TERRITORY FOR TILES

Retail franchise chain Beaumont Tiles plans to grow its Australian footprint ‒ and take its brand overseas.

Retail franchise chain Beaumont Tiles plans to grow its business here and overseas.

Retail franchise chain Beaumont Tiles plans to grow its Australian footprint from 115 stores to 180 ‒ and take its brand overseas. Most of the 65 new stores in Australia will be franchised, says CEO Bob Beaumont.

“There is plenty of opportunity within Australia, and opportunity for sales within each store to grow as well,” he tells Inside Franchise Business.

Staff development is the key to strong sales growth, he says. “We already have very good marketing, and I think we can develop our people to be stronger and better.”

As the base for future business, the company is launching an IT system this year. “We plan to grow substantially over the next four to five years and can use this as a launchpad to extend the brand overseas.”

No specific countries have yet been targeted for expansion, but the team working on exporting the brand has pinpointed Asia and North America as potential regions.

“We believe that by bringing together the disparate parts of the business, particularly the IT this year, we can build on this package, transfer and adapt it. We will have to be flexible but strong enough to withstand any environment,” says Beaumont.

He identifies the challenge as developing a s ystem that takes a client through the sales process to delivery and payment, integrating all aspects. “We also need to be able to plug in marketing, web, IT-based training and payroll – a ny system in a different country.

“The big one is logistics, but we’re set up already with worldwide sourcing so it’s not such a b ig step there.”