The Moufarrige family started Bell’s Dry Cleanersback in 1964. By 1974, they had two locations, and by 1978, they had expanded to Queanbeyan.
“In 1978, my father purchased this store. It was actually a dry cleaner and a baker; half of it was dry cleaning and half was a bakery. We introduced photos into the business in the eighties, about '83," says owner Julian Moufarrige.
Julian Moufarrige started working at his father’s business in 1989, before becoming principal of the franchises in Erindale and Woden.
Dry cleaning was always in Julian’s blood. He was so passionate about it that he travelled overseas to do a dry cleaning course in the United States in 1994.
When it opened, Bell’s made up about 4% of the market. Since their expansion over 52 years, they make up about 60% of the retail market.
Over this time, the family had the opportunity to test different business models, including franchising the business. However, this came with many downsides.
Bell's Dry Cleaners makes up around 60% of the Canberra-Queanbeyan dry cleaning market. Source: Supplied
“When it was a franchise, you had to open certain hours, we had to have certain pricing.” The Moufarriges also needed to do frequent inspections and do general tracking of each store – a very time-consuming activity.
When Julian’s father left the business, Julian made difficult decision of switching the business model to a chain.
Julian says, “We decided that we didn't want to take on the franchise. We decided in that situation to hold the naming rights and just run a website for the different stores and that made it a bit more flexible for the store owners, the ex-franchisees, so they can control their costs in changing times.”
“Now, the owners can set their own prices to do with what their market is and they can open the hours that they'd see most fit them.”
Chains now have more autonomy to run the store as it suits their location and customer base. Source: Supplied
What were franchising fees for marketing, maintenance and bookkeeping was reduced to a service fee for equipment maintenance, website upkeep and membership to the Dry Cleaning Institute of Australia.
For Julian, this was nothing short of liberating.
Despite the model not working for Bell’s, Julian admits there are definite advantages to being a part of a franchise.
“Franchising can be a fabulous way to grow. And that’s typically why people consider it as opposed to 'oh I’ve got a good idea lets franchise, I want to grow my business but I don’t have the capital to do it. So if I can utilise other people's capital i.e. the franchisee, they can help my business to grow, to replicate, to expand into other areas that personally I don’t have the capacity to do.”
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