Resene is an iconic and trusted brand and one of New Zealand’s greatest innovation success stories. Started from a garage in Wellington in 1946 by builder Ted Nightingale, it is now the largest New Zealand-owned and operated paint manufacturer, wholesaler and retail businesses with sites across New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific.
From its introduction of waterborne paint to a market starved of quality products in the 1950s, the Resene Group now manufactures colours, coatings, wood stains and paints for exterior and interior house painting, plus commercial, industrial and marine painting applications.
With a retail store network of Resene ColorShops and several operational sites involved with specialist manufacturing and distribution, Resene has a portfolio of 80+ leased and owned properties.
In early 2021, TwentyTwo was engaged to take over the outsourced property and lease management of their property portfolio. The initial focus was to fully immerse our team in understanding the Resene business and portfolio, including the leases, issues and risks for each site.
Armed with this working knowledge, we’ve helped Resene take a forward-looking view on all key decisions in each market/region well ahead of lease renewal dates, increasing the confidence that critical milestones and compliance and lease obligations are being met. With this lead planning, more time can be spent considering the business’s needs, undertaking thorough market due diligence and option analysis to put Resene in the best position to either select new sites or renegotiate/renew existing lease terms.
TwentyTwo’s David Lambie and our Portfolio22 team have worked closely with the Resene team on each site on a region-by-region basis to engage with landlords, negotiate building upgrades, ensure the leases (where needed) have tenure flexibility and ensure rent reviews are fair and in line with true market value/expectations.
“We have spent a great deal of quality time getting familiar with the Resene leased portfolio and the key timings around each property decision,” says TwentyTwo’s David Lambie. “The Resene team now has the confidence to make more informed and strategic decisions to align with the long-term aspirations and plan for each part of the business. Increasingly, the lead times for planning will be further extended to provide for longer planning horizons as we know as a tenant in particular, time is an ally in this context”.
We sat down with John Gerondis, Resene National Sales Manager, to learn more about what makes Resene ColorShops such a success…
What’s the key to your retail premises being so popular and successful?
“A strong brand that customers will go looking for! As a destination store (customers generally arrive in-store with intent, we don’t get many ‘walk-ins’), high-profile locations are not as important as convenience – car parking, good visibility, like-minded stores around the location and, critically for our trade customers, being able to get in and out particularly in the mornings without being caught in traffic jams.”
Do you see your retail portfolio expanding?
“There are a number of growth areas in NZ where we are actively seeking to establish a Resene ColorShop. It would be fair to say that most of our property portfolio work is about assessing existing locations during lease reviews and ensuring we remain comfortable with the current location versus other possibilities in the same area/market. TwentyTwo provides excellent market intel around possible options and skilfully negotiates fair lease terms on our behalf.”
Has the work that the TwentyTwo team has done/are doing added value to your day-to-day business decisions?
“Having the experienced and professional team from TwentyTwo work with us has, without fail, made every property-related decision easy. Options are explored, evaluated and recommendations presented in a manner that provides the ideal platform for effective and efficient decision making. Importantly, this frees up the exec team at Resene to get on with their core focus – growing the brand and the business. TwentyTwo has very quickly understood the Resene business, culture and the way we do business. They have tailored their approach and resources to meet our requirements and make our dealing with them enjoyable, as well as professional.”
What is the biggest learning you’ve had from working with the TwentyTwo team?
“When you build a ‘relationship’ into a ‘partnership’ that delivers expertise in an area outside your core business – as we very quickly have with TwentyTwo – it brings you to the point of trusting their judgement. So property-related issues that are often time consuming and difficult can become straightforward. It frees up a lot of time and frustration. Leave it to the experts.”
