Success Stories

Extra Innings (softball/baseball training franchise)
NWJ Jewelers (retail jewelery franchise)
Repicci's Italian Ice (retail Italian ice franchise)

NWJ Jewelers

NWJ Quality Jewelers began in 1983, when Hylton Rabinowitz opened a jewelry store in Durban, South Africa. Initially, his focus was on selling to the wholesale trade. But in 1985, trading as Natal Wholesale Jewelers, Rabinowitz began selling jewelry to the public at heavily discounted prices. He opened two new stores in 1985 and 1986, before acquiring a 50 percent interest in a jewelry manufacturer. This drove his costs of goods down and allowed him to offer even more competitive prices to his retail clientele. After opening additional company-owned stores in other South African provinces, NWJ decided to expand through franchising in 2000.

“As a privately held company, NWJ could have grown by opening more company-owned stores,” says David Buxton, director of the firm. “But the financial stress and the physical burden would have been tremendous. So we decided to grow the business through franchising. We had clear goals for embarking down this path. We wanted to have a successful jewelry company with all of our individual storeowners happy, content, and making money. Moreover, NWJ wanted to be the largest jewelry retailer in terms of sales, with the fewest number of stores.”

As successful as they were in the jewelry business, NWJ was not familiar with franchising as a method of business expansion. “Frankly, we wanted to make certain our business could be franchised, and if so, what we needed to do and what we needed to change to operate as a franchisor. In short, we needed a plan of action.”

After meeting Bob Pirtle and discussing their needs, NWJ management decided that Bob would provide them with the straight answers they needed—and an action plan for transforming business objectives into business reality.

The project began with Bob confirming that the business could be franchised and overseeing the establishment of a test store in Kloof, South Africa. Then Bob helped the company design a franchising infrastructure and underlying documentation. “Bob was tremendously helpful in educating me about the theory behind franchising and what franchisees would expect of us.”

“Throughout the project, Bob was a wealth of franchising knowledge. Everything he did was meticulous and direct, and he delivered on time and followed through on all his commitments.”

In July/August of 2000, the first three NWJ franchise stores opened. After a slow period, franchise growth took off in 2002. Currently, the company has 80 stores. This brings them closer to their revised goal of 100 stores nationwide.

NWJ has developed its franchise skills over the past years and believes its franchise relationships are stronger than ever. “We have created a win-win scenario for both us and for our franchisees. “NWJ is a clean, easy-to-run non-food franchise, so our partners obviously appreciate that. Plus, they appreciate the prestige of working in the jewelry business with a company that has a long track record of success. They definitely appreciate the high level of franchisee support we provide.”

 “But the proof of our success is that our turnover (sales revenue) has grown about 30% in the past financial year. In fact, we were once again named the best jewelry store in Kwa Zulu Natal in a major newspaper ‘reader’s choice’ poll. And we were named the 2004 Franchisor of the Year by the Franchise Association of South Africa.”

Another proof of success, says David: Existing franchisees have begun buying additional franchises or selling their franchises in order to trade up to a larger NWJ store.

August of 2008 NWJ was purchased by the South African Public Company Taste Holdings PTY (LTD). This purchase gets David closer to his initial exist strategy and objectives. Altoug he continues to run the franchise company he now has profited from his investment while being able to see his company continue to grow and prosper. “All in all,” he says, “becoming a franchisor has been a rewarding experience, and Bob Pirtle’s expertise was instrumental in our success.”