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An evolving franchise opportunity Established by Franchise Entertainment Group in 2011, Evolve Entertainment has quickly established itself as a major force in the Kiosk Vending business. Already on par with its only competitor after just three years, Evolve Entertainment has grown to over 50 franchisees, operating over 560 kiosks, with a vision of rolling out 4,000 kiosks over the coming years. Spearheading this expansion plan are founders Ed Nedelko and Paul Uniacke. Starting as franchisees with VideoEzy and accumulating 18 stores between them, Ed and Paul bought the VideoEzy brand in 2005 followed with the purchase of Blockbuster in 2007. Ed and Paul recognised that there was an ongoing evolution of not just the home entertainment industry, but lifestyle in general. Self-service was becoming more and more common and accepted across many areas of retail. This, along with the evolution of the movie rental industry, has seen consumers needing more choice in how they rent from their favourite iconic Australian brands. Evolve Entertainment offers prospective franchisees the only franchised Home Entertainment Kiosk Rental business in Australia. The low start-up and operating costs of kiosks give franchisees the opportunity to take advantage of this growing sector of the Home Entertainment Industry.
“As the kiosk is a mini store in its own right, it doesn’t have the overheads that you would associate with a store such as rent and payroll etc.” Paul says, “With 350 VideoEzy and Blockbuster stores in Australia, we created the concept in late 2010 of a hub and spoke model, the store is the main hub and the kiosks, located in and around the territory, the spoke. Although the majority of our kiosk franchisees also have a store, we recognised that franchisees can also achieve great success with kiosks only. “As the kiosk is a mini store in its own right, it doesn’t have the overheads that you would associate with a store such as rent and payroll etc. This allows the kiosks to be placed in areas that traditionally do not have a VideoEzy or Blockbuster store, such as the CBD’s in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane or major shopping centres. This allows Evolve Entertainment to service these high traffic areas for very little cost.” Evolve are looking for franchisees with a positive outlook and an aspiration to set up a successful franchise business either in conjunction with what they are currently doing or with a view to growing their kiosk business to become their main source of income. No previous experience in running a business is required due to a franchise support team working with you. Over 60 staff Australia wide and developed franchising systems built over the last 30 years means franchisees are free to learn and develop their business to their full potential. On a day-to-day basis, in the background, Evolve operations staff manage approximately 80 per cent of the Evolve kiosk business, leaving the franchisee to
58 Business Franchise Australia and New Zealand
focus on maintaining and building the customer base for their particular kiosk sites. All franchisees have access to field based Business Managers and new franchisees are provided with induction training at Evolve’s head office. Assistance with finance, leasing, kiosk site evaluation, landlord negotiations and initial local marketing of the kiosk are part of the support offered in the set up phase alongside an Australian based telephone customer care team that operates seven days a week, providing support to customers, franchisees and site contacts. Alongside the initial 1,000 kiosks already purchased by Evolve, Evolve have recently taken delivery of a substantial number of outdoor units, which means that franchisees will no longer be limited to indoor sites with defined hours but can offer customers the convenience of 24 hour access to their vending kiosks. With the roll out of these outdoor kiosks, commencing in the latter half of 2014 there’s no better time to join Australia’s most iconic home entertainment brands and participate in the success of the fastest growing DVD vending operator. Evolve Entertainment will be holding a series of franchise information nights. To be notified of when these will be happening in your area, register your interest now. For further details contact: P: 02 8833 2100 E: franchise.enquiries@fegroup.com.au W: www.fegroup.com.au/Franchising/