National Book Store (NBS), one of the iconic business brands in the country, recently announced the business is now open for franchising.
“This business strategy will allow us to expand more efficiently and reach communities not yet catered to by our existing stores,” NBS Group Managing Director Alexandra Ramos-Padilla told the media in a recent interview at the sidelines of the recently concluded Franchise Asia 2018 held in Pasay City.
The franchise brand is to be called NBS Express (NBEX), the convenience store format of NBS. Ramos-Padilla said the original objective was to serve communities in Metro Manila. Right now, NBEX has expanded across the country with eight stores in Luzon and one in Mindanao, in addition to seven stores in the National Capital Region.
Ramos-Padilla said this development signifies a new chapter after NBS celebrated its 75th year. Today, it has over 230 branches nationwide, complemented by a delivery hot line in Metro Manila and an e-commerce site that ships nationwide.
She said NBS’s loyalty card program, Laking National, will receive a major upgrade soon. It has also targeted new customer bases with its specialty stores: Art Bar, Kids Ink, Noteworthy and Work Station. Additionally, it has formally entered the education sector with the establishment of the NBS College, an institution for higher learning in Quezon City.
Ramos-Padilla said future franchisees will learn a lot from retail experience and knowledge management from the NBS management. Moreover, she said, the franchisees will have to develop an entrepreneurial spirit, success-driven mind-set and to be risk-takers.
She said the value proposition of NBEX will have “accessible chain of bookstores bringing a functional selection of books, schools and office supplies and fast-lifestyle commodities for students and small business owners who have a dynamic way of living.”
The franchisee is required to invest an initial amount of P450,000, which includes the use of trademark, procurement program, opening assistance, site approval, use of operating manual, research and development and training for franchisee and staff.
Total capital requirement is P6 million, while franchisees will pay a royalty is 1 percent of gross sales. Initial term is 10 years. The required space is at least 150 square meters.
As a trusted brand and industry leader, Ramos-Padilla said, the NBS group is looking forward to working with franchisees who share the same values that helped propel its founder Socorro Ramos’s success: persistence, determination and resilience.
“Nanay Coring was able to write her success story. With an NBS Express franchise, you, too, can write your own,” Ramos-Padilla said.