REDEVELOPMENT A HIT WITH EASTS’ NEW & EXISTING MEMBERS
Article in ClubsNSW by Ben Damon, Freelance Writer
The Members have spoken and the home of rugby league’s Roosters has received a thorough makeover, with the new-look Bondi Junction venue now fully reopened for business.
Easts was established in 1961 and has been brought emphatically into the modern day via a redevelopment that features an updated reception area, chic dining facility and boutique sports bar.
“What started out as a physical renovation here at Bondi Junction just morphed into many other things as we looked to improve every single touchpoint of the Club,” says Easts Group CEO Joe Kelly.
“The name of the Club – we’ve refined it from Easts Leagues Club just to a simple use of the word ‘Easts’, which resonates with our rugby league supporter base as well. Olive & Oak was Bistro One before, Artie’s was the Legends Bar – we we’ve certainly brought these changes in for the contemporary look and feel of the venue.”
In setting the strategy for the Club’s future, Easts consulted extensively with Members and brought in industry experts to oversee the entire process.
“I wanted to get some expertise involved, so that’s where Tully Heard Consulting were engaged. They were instrumental in guiding me through the process and setting the strategy for the future of the Club,” says Joe.
“We listened to our Members – that was the most important part of this whole journey, I think. We started with a Member survey, that led into smaller focus groups, and we really asked Members what they want – and the first and most important thing was a food and beverage offering that was at an elevated level to what we had previously.”
The response has been immediate, with more than a thousand people joining the Club in the first month since the rebrand. Many of the new Members are skewed towards a younger demographic.
“We’ve elevated the actual product offering up a number of notches. We’ve brought Great Eats Co in as our outsourced food operator and I think we’ve seen from that already a level of satisfaction we hadn’t seen previously from our Members,” says Joe.
“We were really conscious of retaining our existing membership base, but we do want to move to that wider demographic. Ultimately, getting some younger faces into the Club and into the likes of Olive & Oak is key to our business strategy.”
“I think it’s really important to really assess your business, review it, engage experts such as Tully Heard in the process, and look at your market analysis. We were very conscious of spending our member’s money wisely.”