Inside Retail PREMIUM the company plans to open in Melbourne in July, however, a location is yet to be confirmed. “We’ll open another four or five this year, and the rest will open next year,” Grover said. The chain offers customers 3D printing, scanning, and design services using a range of materials, colours, and finishes. Stores also offer 3D training and sell 3D printers for small scale use. “There was very little going on in the world of 3D printing in Australia, so we came up with the idea to do things a little bit different to everyone else. There was a retail side to it which no one was really exploring. “We call the stores an experience. Most people that have read or heard about 3D printing have an inkling about what it’s about, but have never experienced it. “What we have created is an experience store, so people can come in and really see how it works first hand.” Grover, who is aiming for the bulk of the company’s target of 30 stores to be franchised, has earmarked studios for all major Australian cities, including inner city Brisbane and Adelaide. “All of our stores are on the high street, which works really well because we get a lot of exposure. “We’ve found the local councils to be really encouraging of us as well, they like having our technology represented in their areas, so they’ve given us quite a few incentives to set up.” The first international store will open in Singapore later this month, the second franchise. “We’re looking at overseas separately. Singapore is our test bed to see how well it works remotely.” Stores operate on an average footprint of around 80sqm with four to five qualified staff per store. “[The staff] are all industrial designers or they’ve done some kind of design degree at university, so they understand the technology. “Most people that want franchises have no 3D experience, so they’ll have to undergo training. In Perth, the franchisee was a former employee that’s now running the studio. “The franchisees have to go through a four week training course to get their head around the 3D landscape.” Prices for 3D printers instore range from $900 to $4000. “The cheapest printer we sell is an Australian made machine for $935. Then we sell machines around the $2000 to $4000 mark. These aren’t the machines we use instore for customers, these are more for home use. “The machines that we use instore tend to be in the hundreds of thousands, but customers can walk out of the store with a printer there and then. “For most it’s a considered purchase so it tends to be a two or three week sale cycle.” According to Grover stores attract a mixture of customers, with printing requests of all shapes and sizes. “You have some people that come in and want to buy a printer, others come in with a design file but are unsure of what process is involved and the materials to use, and then there are some that walk in with just an idea they want to get printed. “We get so many wide and varied things. We’ve printed everything from $30 up to $30,000. “We’re currently working on a corset design for a fashion parade. We 3D scanned the mannequin and designed the corset based on the shape of the body. “Lots of things we print are props for TV and movies, but then you also get regular Joes off the street that may have a broken part from a vintage car and they can’t a find a replacement for it. We can 3D scan the broken part and replace it. “The most expensive item we printed was $30,000 and was a map of Papua New Guinea for an Australian mining company.” Grover says it’s only a matter of time before more players move into the 3D printing space. “People will start copying, but at the moment there’s not many players worldwide. “There’s a lot of people setting up garage businesses, but they can’t offer what we can. If you look at our equipment its a $2 million investment, and to replicate what we have in terms of capabilities it’s very difficult – it’s not a small investment. “As the technology improves and the cost comes down it will make it a lot easier for people to copy, but I still think that’s three or four years away. “For now though, where we go is all virgin territory. There’s no one really doing it, so wherever we set up it will be new and there won’t be any competition…yet.”