Aussie discount retailer Silly Solly is on a growth trajectory, with plans to expand as a franchise, after shifting from a licensing model.

Media spokesperson Solly Stanton told Franchise Executives, “We were a licence agreement and have progressively changed to a franchise model. This offers our store owners more protection and the opportunity to resell their business.”

Stanton said there is a strong pipeline of franchisees, looking to join the existing 38 stores in the network.

“We would like to open 10 stores a year. We believe in the model, it’s been operating since 2018.”

Silly Solly’s franchises retail model

Stanton founded the original business more than two decades ago before selling it to the New Zealand Warehouse Group in 2000.

The Silly Solly’s brand has come full circle, now owned by Stanton and an Australian management team that reinvented the model in 2018.

“We experimented with a couple of stores and decided there was a need for this, ” said Stanton.

“Silly Solly’s has excelled in a bricks-and-mortar retail environment of extreme uncertainty. We have built a trusted reputation amongst our customers, Stanton said.

“It was a massive challenge, but Silly Solly’s responded to consumer demand for new ranges of products to help ease cost of living pressure with a huge everyday focus on essentials items, at affordable prices.”

The chain boasts ‘Nothing over $5’ in its advertising.

Expansion through conversion

Silly Solly’s is looking for conversions in its growth strategy and is targeting other discount stores whose owners want to be part of a bigger buying arrangement.

The brand has announced its first Adelaide store will open before Christmas.

“We’ve been trying to get there for three years,” said Stanton.

A store investment is between $250,000 and $350,000 for a footprint of 800sqm to 1200sqm.

This story was originally published on Franchise Executives.