Business as usual.
Regional WA electrical retailer, Mitchell & Brown, has re-joined the Retravision group after a 13-year absence. In an exclusive interview with Appliance Retailer, Mitchell & Brown managing director, Steve Nanninga (pictured below), the decision for him and his business partner Greg Brown to re-join the Retravision group made sense for the future of the business.
“It can be challenging to be a single independent over here in regional Western Australia in terms of having that really close contact with suppliers. So by joining Retravision, this gives us some power and strength.
“In a tough market, we can see some synergies to be part of the Retravision group and to grow our brand alongside with what they are doing throughout Western Australia. From our perspective, nothing has changed in our business other than we have added Retravision back in,” Nanninga said.
David Dorsett-Lynn, who acquired the licence to exclusively franchise the Retravision business in Western Australia, has welcomed the Mitchell & Brown business back into the group.
“Retravision is very pleased to have an exceptional retailer like Mitchell & Brown join with us and both Steve and Greg provide outstanding service in the Geraldton and surrounding areas,” Dorsett-Lynn told Appliance Retailer.
The Mitchell & Brown business opened almost half a century ago and over this time has transitioned from a Retravision member, to a member of the Narta buying group and now back to Retravision.
“Colin Brown and Doug King started off as King & Brown 48 years ago, before becoming Geraldton Retravision and then Mitchell & Brown when Barry Mitchell was brought into the business and we started selling computers and mobile phones 22 years ago. For the first 35 years we were members of Retravision and in 2004, we became standalone members of Narta as at that time we could see synergies in that decision. But the market has changed again and it is good for us to go back to where we started.
The Geraldton-based retailer is also one of the most remote with a large catchment area representing a significant portion of Western Australia
“We have a strong name in the mid-west community and we invest in a lot of local sponsorships. We are lucky that we have a loyal customer base with a reach up to 500km north, 450km inland and 300km south, while also being 50 metres from the ocean,” Nanninga said.
“From our perspective, nothing has changed in our business other than we have added Retravision back in.”