The Good Travel Agent franchisees Chris Hollins and Anya McCormack have opened the group’s first high street store, in Kirkcaldy in Scotland.
Chris is also a member of sister franchise The Good Estate Agent, which they’ve opened on the same site.
“When customers come in, they will be able to buy a house or book a holiday,” said Anya. “The businesses will run side by side.”
Anya will run the travel agency, while Chris will ‘mainly’ manage the property side of the business, but Anya said they will both deal with all customers.
Chris joined The Good Estate Agent six years ago and became one of the first members of The Good Travel Agent when it launched two years ago. Anya joined him in the business when she retired from her full-time job in April.
“At the moment the property side is bigger than travel, because it has been going longer, but we have had a lot of interest in our travel agency. People have been surprised to see a travel agency and an estate agency combined, but they think it’s a good idea!”
The Good Travel Agent CEO Jake Cullum-Hollins said: “I am super excited for the launch of our very first retail store. Chris and Anya were one of our first franchise owners and are now our first retail franchisees.
“Retail stores were never really on our agenda, but Chris and Anya came to us with a solid plan and we wanted to help them make it happen.
“We wish them all the best with their plans and can’t wait to see their store flourish in their local community.”
Chris and Anya are currently recruiting for a part-time travel agent to join them in the business.
“With the strength of the high street growing we are now in a position to look at offering a retail franchise option as well as our homeworking model and will help agents with finding locations and opening new sites if this is the direction they decide to take their business,” added Jake.
“This will help us become a one stop shop for travel franchising.”
The Good Travel Agent, which operates under the Advantage Travel Partnership umbrella, currently has 92 homeworkers.
“We are continuing with our main focus on the homeworking model to improve and grow what we already offer, but will always help agents looking to expand their businesses onto the high street, and we plan to launch a whole new retail franchise package in the near future,” added Jake.
“If anyone is interested in opening a retail store now, we would be happy to have discussions about what this could look like and help them get open and ready for Peaks.”
