Seven months after opening a satellite branch in Bloemfontein, the Notebook Company, a specialist retailer of notebooks and mobile accessories, is "contemplating pulling the pull" after disappointing sales from the region. The company - which said sales were "strong" in other regions - is to maintain its head office in Pretoria, as well as branches in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Nelspruit.
Christopher Riley, general manager of The Notebook Company, said the company had initially decided to take a 12-month view of the Bloemfontein office, which was initially set up as a strategic alliance with a local computer company. "We are seriously looking at terminating the strategic alliance now rather than waiting out the entire 12-month period. Judging by our Cape Town, Nelspruit and Johannesburg offices - which are now contributing markedly to our overall revenue - Bloemfontein just isn`t performing.
"We are not saying that Bloemfontein companies are technological laggards - or that there is a recession in that region - it`s just that a lot of the companies seem to be branches or subsidiaries and make purchases through a head office structure. These head offices appear to have their regular notebook suppliers in the Johannesburg region. Frankly, if we are going to woo these companies, we might as well woo them from our existing offices in Pretoria and Johannesburg," he said.
Riley also confirmed that if the branch was closed - and this would be decided within two weeks - there would be no retrenchments.
Fifty percent of The Notebook Company`s revenue currently comes from its Pretoria head office, 35% from Johannesburg and Nelspruit and the remainder from other regions, including the Western Cape.
The Notebook Company offers additional service contracts which are graded according to customers` after-sales service recruitments. These include a Silver and Gold service contract, which includes telephonic support, set-up support, data backups, training, reduced service rates, free courier service within SA, Internet, fax and network set-up, one months free Internet service, a free Targus notebook carry case and loan units. The company also rents out notebooks and accessories, as well as projection units.
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