Франклинс: Австралиялық дискаунтты супермаркеттер тарихы

Defunct Australian supermarket chainthe Australian supermarket chain

Franklins was an Australian discount supermarket chain selling packaged groceries and perishables throughout New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. It sold the "No Frills" home brand generic products. In 2011 the chain was bought by Metcash and the stores were sold off, shut down or converted into new supermarket banners or other brands. The final store closed in April 2015.

In 1941, Franklins was established in Sydney by Frank Lindstrom. It was his second supermarket chain, having sold his first one to Woolworths. In 1954, Franklins was acquired by Harold Cornock and Norman Tieck. Under their leadership it grew to cover much of New South Wales, and created a reputation for low prices.

In 1978, Cornock and Tieck sold the then 75 store supermarket chain to Hong Kong company Dairy Farm International, a member of the Jardine Matheson group, which maintained the chain's discount focus. Its turnover was A$1 million. Franklins launched its No Frills generic range of products (store brand). This was the first such range in Australia. The 'No Frills' brand became very important to Franklins as it provided the best value to customers. However, unlike Aldi in Europe, Franklins also retained a wide range of brand items. Franklins' stores outside NSW were branded black and white 'Franklins No Frills' to emphasize the label. Eventually the name replaced the white on red 'Franklins' in the home state of NSW, until the brand reverted to a red, white and black 'Franklins'. In retaliation, Woolworths later launched "Home Brand" and Coles launched "Scotch Buy" (later rebranded as "Savings"). Around this time, Bi Lo began operations in Adelaide, using a similar format to Franklins. In 1982, Franklins expanded outside of Sydney and ultimately New South Wales to open its first stores in Victoria, at Deer Park, Gladstone Park and Glenferrie. In 1983, Franklins opened its first store in Queensland, at Toowoomba. In 1989, Franklins opened its first store in South Australia. Franklins also launched FRFM, Franklins' own in house radio station playing songs and advertising specials. By 1989, Franklins had also expanded into the ACT, covering the east coast of mainland Australia and South Australia.

In 2001, Franklins' mass expansion and reformatting ended in failure. Dairy Farm International exits from Australia in May, and many stores were sold to Woolworths (which got 67 stores), Coles (which got 37 stores), Foodland and IGA franchisees. A few closed. This saw the end of Franklins in the ACT, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. 53 stores across New South Wales were sold to South African retailer Pick 'n Pay, which also bought the Franklins name. The "No Frills", "Fresh" and "Mini Fresh" brands survived. "Big Fresh" did not and nearly all were bought by Woolworths and Coles. Pick 'n Pay bought all but one of the 21 Fresco supermarkets and rebranded them as Franklins stores at the same time. The other was shut down. The new Franklins launched the "Saves You Money" slogan. In January Aldi launched in NSW, and quickly filled the void left by Franklins in many areas. In 2002, Foodland Associated Limited bought 45 Franklins stores across Queensland and Northern NSW as well as its Queensland warehouse facilities. All were rebranded as Action supermarkets. This saw the end for the "Mini Fresh" brand. The "Fresh" and "No Frills" brands were also retired, although their formats remained. All stores more than 2000 square metres are effectively "Fresh" stores. Franklins was relaunched with the slogan "Look at us now!". In 2003, Franklins changed its slogan to "That's what I like about Franklins!". It also announced that it is not interested in owning petrol stations like most of its competitors. Later that year, the "No Frills" generic product range and the brand itself is revamped and then promoted by its new mascot, "Red Sock". In 2004, the Franklins website was relaunched and Franklins joined the widespread trend of selling green plastic carrier bags. The fourth Pick 'n Pay era slogan was launched – "Cheap and Cheerful". The liquor outlets were relaunched as Franklins Local Liquor, in addition to the Canberra based liquor chain. The annual "Birthday Cash Jackpot" competition is also introduced. In 2005, Franklins started setting up franchise opportunities under the "Franklins Family Supermarkets" brand (similar to the "Pick 'n Pay Family Supermarkets" brand). By that time, there were 80 Franklins supermarkets across New South Wales. The only Franklins store to open that year was the one in Newcastle. The Franklins store in Erina Fair on the Central Coast was also closed, soon replaced by Aldi. On 30 January 2006, Franklins opened a purchased store in Ulladulla NSW to show potential franchisees the benefits of changing from IGA to Franklins. Also in 2006, Franklins launched its own loyalty club and begins changing a few stores to the franchise model. There were 77 Franklins stores by the end of 2006. In 2007, some new stores were opened. Two existing Franklins stores and another two IGA stores were converted to Franklins Family supermarkets. By the end of 2007 there were 80 Franklins stores. On 1 July 2010, it was announced that all 85 stores had been sold to Metcash for A$215 million, to become part of the IGA chain. The stores will be sold individually to independent retailers. In April 2015, the last store, located at Westfield Miranda, closed, ending the business after over 74 years of operation

Historically, Franklins never advertised due to it being a "no frills" supermarket. Instead, it advertised specials at the stores, much like Aldi does now. Later, it advertised through their own catalogues, especially when it introduced fresh foods and liquor to its stores. In the early 1990s Franklins launched its first TV advertisement with the slogans "More in your trolley for less" and "Good ol' Prices are Back". Shortly after Dairy Farm International exited the business in 2001, Franklins' advertisements used the slogan "Saves You Money". In 2002, the new Franklins was launched with the slogan "Look at us now!". In 2003 it was changed to "That's what I like about Franklins!" and again in 2004 to "Cheap and Cheerful". That slogan is now rarely used, being largely replaced with and branded as "Australia's Original Discount Grocer". The No Frills generic product range was relaunched in 2003 and promoted by its mascot "Red Sock" on TV advertisements and on its website. "Red Sock" now appears once every so often in the regular advertising on TV, radio, newspapers and catalogues for Franklins. In late 2009 Franklins changed back to the 2002 slogan "Look at us now!". In 2011 the flash mobbing technique was used with shoppers and employees singing and dancing to the "Franklins Supermarket Spectacular" across their stores to promote Franklins during a time when Coles used their ever popular "Down, Down, Prices Are Down" advertising campaign and the downwards pointing red hands to promote their sales. Woolworths had also used flash mobbing and became accessible in all states and territories of Australia and during a time when Metcash, owners of the IGA brand – which acquired Franklins the previous year – started converting their stores into the IGA, Foodland network. Drakes Supermarkets took a number of stores in South Australia. In 2012, the last year of Franklins as a separate chain in its own right, Franklins returned to using the Dairy Farm era slogans "More in your trolley for less" and "Good ol' Prices are Back" in retro style promotions alongside its Pick n Pay era "Australia's Original Discount Grocer" slogan. The chain also joined the divisive $1 milk price wars along with Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and some IGA supermarkets. In the brand's final years, it was used in place of the IGA brand as the stores were being sold off. A second "Franklins Rewards" program was launched when only the store in Westfield Miranda remained.

First Choice was another generic range of products Franklins had sold. Launched in 1998, it was developed to provide an alternative to the leading brands and have products with quality equal to or better than the leading brands. The products didn't just have the quality but also had prices that were anywhere between 10–15% cheaper than the national brands. First Choice had over 600 different products, and new products were continually being developed every day. The brand did not survive for long, though, and by the time Dairy Farm International exited the company in 2001, the brand was dropped, unlike No Frills, which continues to be sold at IGAs to this day. The First Choice brand is still used by Hong Kong supermarket Wellcome.