By Martin Vedris
ALBURY: As part of its interstate expansion ambitions, Wow Sight & Sound is set to open the doors of its 12th store on November 29 in Albury, with the company planning to open a further 11 new stores next year.
The pace of growth for this group is set to increase — store number nine in Mackay opened on 23 November 2006, then store 11 opened in Cairns on 23 August 2007. A further 11 stores in 2008 would nearly double the size of the group in one year.
Currently 10 of the 12 Wow Sight & Sound stores are located in Queensland, with Darwin, NT and Coffs Harbour, NSW, being the two interstate locations. The Queensland locations are: Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Maroochydore, Rothwell, Kedron, Annerly, Underwood, Toowoomba. Now the company is looking mainly outside its Queensland home state for new superstore locations.
The new Albury store is located at Wagga Road Lavington and will trade for 68 hours per week from 9 am to 7 pm Monday to Friday, Thursday until 9 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 9 am to 5pm.
There are already several electrical appliance stores serving the Albury area including Dick Smith Electronics, Tandy, Harvey Norman, Betta Electrical and several independents. However, the store will also provide employment for over 50 locals, including new store manager Andrew Orzeszko.
Orzeszko said he was looking forward to introducing the ‘Wow’ concept to the Albury community on opening day.
“It’s shaping up to be a massive opening day with some great specials on Wow’s already famous selection of high quality products,” Orzeszko said.
“Our team is working extremely hard to get the store ready on time and I’m sure Albury residents will agree, Wow Sight & Sound will make a positive addition to our community and economy,” he said.
Wow Sight & Sound’s national sales manager Don Mayne said plans for further expansion were boosted by the success of its 11 existing stores.
“Wow has received an overwhelmingly positive response from existing customers which has helped us to expand across Australia,” he said
“Albury’s growing population and strong economy made it the ideal location to open our newest store and to help extend our network.”
Mayne said Wow Sight & Sound employed over 600 staff throughout its 12 superstores in Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory and had a solid expansion strategy for 2008.
“We are planning to open 11 new superstores next year and are currently in the process of finalising locations across Australia to introduce our concept to new markets.”