About
This Bradford based greeting card supplier owned by the Cheetham family, wanted to expand through the UK. They provided independent retailers with a range of cards on display units which were restocked once per month with a personal visit. Previous attempts via agents, employed salespeople and wholesalers had limited success in expanding from their Yorkshire base. However once the company discovered franchising all of that changed.
The Secret to Appletree’s Success
As Andy Cheetham explains; “I think the reality is that Appletree’s salespeople would have taken any number of jobs, the agents touted dozens of other brands alongside our own, and the wholesalers were stack it high and sell it cheaper experts operating out of large warehouses and cash and carry type buildings. But with franchising we got people who chose us over everything else and who cared for the business as if it were their own. Once they had a paid a £10,000 franchise fee they were completely committed to making it work and that was the golden key because all previous efforts didn’t require anyone other than the company to put money down.”
From Franchise to Retail Empire
The company went on to supply around 10,000 independent retailers through it’s franchisee network with a diverse range of products sold to thousands of Post Offices, C-Stores, Newsagent and Forecourts. Altogether they signed 167 franchise agreements and after 10 years they successfully sold what was then a group of companies distributing greeting cards and gift wrap, confectionery and CD’s and DVD’s.
