Anusa Store
Kambri offers a unique opportunity for ANUSA to expand its investment portfolio and secure an alternative revenue source for the organization's annual budget. By investing into the local community, ANUSA will be providing job opportunities for students while providing a service that can support students in their personal and academic lives.
This year, Several tickets have toyed with the idea of establishing an ANUSA-run store as an investment. 'Forward' is currently the only ticket that's proposing a specific business model for Kambri. Expected to open next year if-elected, Forward will open an ANUSA Apparel store in-conjunction with a Licensed post office (LPO) franchise of the state owned Australia Post Office. It's a common practice for apparel/gift shops to conjoin with an LPO to increase business sustainability.
Our Business Criteria:
1. Needs to offer benefits for the community
2. must be financially self-reliant.
3. Should provide employment opportunities for students
4. Goods and Services must be affordable for the average undergraduate student
5. Must be easily accessible to all staff and students
6. Must generate a return on investment (ROI)
Under our proposed business model, a forward-led ANUSA will offer a physical location for Clubs and Societies to sell their apparel and merchandise in a centralized location for students to walk-in and purchase either through click-and-collect or in-person. Under this model, Clubs will receive revenue from purchased merchandise will ANUSA would receive a small commission. This Store will also sell ANUSA branded merchandise and apparel in-lieu of official ANU Merchandise.
How it Works?
Under a voluntary arrangement, any club or society affiliated with ANUSA can sell their merchandise at an allocated space on the retail floor. The store would allow the club to sell their merchandise and apparel without having to register for an ABN or expose their club to tax liabilities.
Presently, dozens of our clubs and societies hold a surplus of inventory for their merchandise ranging from t-shirts, hoodies, phone cases, wallets and even keep-cups. The Store will offer a place in the center of campus to inspect and purchase their favorite club or society merchandise for immediate possession, potentially saving clubs hundreds in shipping costs.
The store would also specialise in selling ANUSA branded merchandise and apparel before bidding for the reseller rights to ANU branded merchandise, which is currently exclusive to Harry Hartog. Until then, ANUSA merchandise will range from study stationary to keep-cups and accessories.
Above Image: 152 University Ave, Store 13 street view. Currently an empty retail space under Fenner Hall.
Below Image: An Artist Impression of the ANUSA Store and Licensed Post Office
projections:
7000+ students living on-campus* by 2022
150 clubs affiliated with ANUSA
30,000+ weekly visitors** in Kambri per week.
* Including UniLodge residents
**Under the assumption of both ANU staff and student foot traffic passing through at least once per teaching week.
Why australia post?
Image: 152 University Ave, store 13 under Fenner. Currently unoccupied and available for lease.
Understandably, an Apparel shop would be beneficial to supporting clubs and societies. However, Operating an apparel shop exclusively would be unsustainable in the long term. For this reason, it makes sense to conjoin the store with another business to offer complementary services. In a similar approach to what gift shops and newsagents utilize, Our store will operate alongside an ANUSA operated LPO.
But isn't the post office becoming obsolete?
While it is true that paper envelopes are quickly becoming a thing of the past, Australia post has split its operations between envelopes and packages. Unlike envelopes, Package deliveries are a booming due to the rapid adoption of online shopping, which allows the post office to diversity its services to better suit the modern age.
Operating an Australia Post office would offer our student community much more than access to a global distribution network for textbooks and online deliveries.
Your Typical Australia Post office (LPO) can offer services ranging from:
Image: Artist impression of the ANUSA store and Australia Post banner.
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Banking services
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AusPost visa & mastercard debit cards
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Prepaid mobile sim plans (domestic & international) including TravelSIM®
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Foreign currency travel card
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Car, Home, Pet and Travel Insurance
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Passport photos and applications
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I.T. Accessories
Is it Viable?
Australia post offers deposit & withdrawal services for 74 different banks & credit unions
Visa, Mastercard
& Unionpay avaliable
prepaid phones and sim cards. domestic & international calls
Some members of the community may remember the fact that ANU used to have its own post office, which closed down citing 'commercial viability' as a reason for the closure.
A lot has changed since then. The on-campus student population if now approximately 6000 students. That number is expected to grow by another 1000+ students when SA8 completes construction. Unlike the former community postal agent (CPA), This new post officer will be operated by ANUSA itself, giving it control over building leases, employment and daily operations. A major difference is the fact that the former post office operated as a stand-alone store, serving a smaller population. Our plan is to run a conjoined store in a central location to maximize its commercial viability and serviceability.
Not only would ANUSA be operating a post office, ANUSA will be operating its own bank branch. It's own telecommunications and insurance retailer. ANUSA will be running its own retailer of mobile phones, printing services and computer accessories. As a franchisee of a state-owned enterprise, Australia Post will offer a wealth of opportunity for both ANU and ANUSA. Providing Jobs for Students and a source of revenue to fund student services.
This is our preferred model for an ANUSA-operated enterprise. If Elected, Forward will begin negotiation talks with Kambri to secure the lease for store 13. Under the Forward plan, the seed capital required for this investment will be raised through a Student lottery. More Details can be found on page 5 of the Forward Plan [To be released August 16 2020]