The club shop...

[Stuart Munday]

people have had a go at people working in there over the last few seasons for various reasons (tickets)etc and in my opinion have been wrong as they do a great job and probably dont earn much money for their efforts either especiallly during the hectic run up to the playoffs.

Here is description of what happened to me today-

I wasnt going to buy the new shirt (short of cash,better things I could spend the money on etc)but then I had a few beers had too much sun so I though sod it why not and headed into the shop.
This is the conversation that followed with a girl I hadnt seen working there before.

I see the new shirts go on sale next Friday, do you think I should pre order for the Reading game?

Yes

Can I order 2 large shirts for Friday please?

Yes

Your open until 5.30 can I pick them up about 5pm on Friday then?

Yes

Oh except if we have too many orders for the same size we might not have them.

Sorry?

We might not have them.

So,just to clarify if I pre order 2 shirts and make a special trip down here on Friday to pick them up you might not have them?

Yes

Forget it then

Ok


No persuasion no excuses nothing and before somebody has a go at me the bloke behind me had a very similar conversation, over £100 lost in 5 mins what a joke.

 

[Sonic]

What a disaster. That's no way to run a business. Can you imagine the same situation when buying a coach ticket.


I see there's a coach to London at 0800 on Wednesday.

Yes, that's right.

Can I book 2 tickets please.

Yes.

So presumably I can come to the coach station around 0745 and board the coach shortly after.

Yes, unless we sell too many tickets and there's no more room on the coach.

Sorry?

You might not get a seat.

So, just to clarify, I can pre-book tickets now, turn up in time to get on the coach, but may not get a seat.

Yes, that's right.

Forget it then.

Ok then.

 

[Trigger]

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Not the shop's fault for sure. Not the club's fault either really. All routes lead back to Bill Archer. The club can't afford to over-order stuff cos presumably it's cash up front or within a month or something and in such matters cash flow is king. Maybe worth getting brave and going for gold and opening up shirt sales to JJB Sports and all the rest of it, maybe even tie-in with the foreign language schools as must-have fashion accessories or something. Worth a crack, I'd have thought. Maybe bung in as a freebiesomething from Fatboy's back catalogue (fairly recently on sale for £3.99 at HMV)

Getting back to the shop and the Bill Archer theme, this is the same shop, remember, where the last time we were top half dozen in Division 2, the ticket sales staff spent a VERY LARGE part of their day putting cheques into stamped addressed envelopes and returning them to sender cos there were no tickets for sale. Never forget who's fault THAT was. The buck stops with Archer.

 

[Ernest]

Not the shop's fault for sure. Not the club's fault either really. All routes lead back to Bill Archer. The club can't afford to over-order stuff cos presumably it's cash up front or within a month or something and in such matters cash flow is king. Maybe worth getting brave and going for gold and opening up shirt sales to JJB Sports and all the rest of it, maybe even tie-in with the foreign language schools as must-have fashion accessories or something. Worth a crack, I'd have thought. Maybe bung in as a freebiesomething from Fatboy's back catalogue (fairly recently on sale for £3.99 at HMV)

Getting back to the shop and the Bill Archer theme, this is the same shop, remember, where the last time we were top half dozen in Division 2, the ticket sales staff spent a VERY LARGE part of their day putting cheques into stamped addressed envelopes and returning them to sender cos there were no tickets for sale. Never forget who's fault THAT was. The buck stops with Archer.

bollocks it is Dick Tights fault as the buck stops at the top. With the club needing every penny the commercial side should be maximising every source of revenue and not running things like a tin pot Sunday car boot sale.
It's seven years since Dick Tight took over and it's time he answered and not always shifted the blame back to Archer etc.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

bollocks it is Dick Tights fault as the buck stops at the top. With the club needing every penny the commercial side should be maximising every source of revenue and not running things like a tin pot Sunday car boot sale.
It's seven years since Dick Tight took over and it's time he answered and not always shifted the blame back to Archer etc.

Well if it's DK's 'fault' then he's done the right thing by under-ordering rather than over-ordering. Take it as an example of keeping a tight grip on the purse-strings. Which the club needs to do, especially with the expense of the three-ring circus of the inquiry in the offing.

 

[Ernest]

It's so simple even a geek like you could do it, you order 50 size L so you have 20 internet orders and that leaves 30 available to be pre-ordered and once you have 30 pre-ordered then you say you'll have to wait until the next order comes along.
So why do you need this pantomine in the club shop ? It is obvious the commercial side is a total shambles and that is down to Dick Tight

 

[BensGrandad]

Not the shop's fault for sure. Not the club's fault either really. All routes lead back to Bill Archer. The club can't afford to over-order stuff cos presumably it's cash up front or within a month or something and in such matters cash flow is king. Maybe worth getting brave and going for gold and opening up shirt sales to JJB Sports and all the rest of it, maybe even tie-in with the foreign language schools as must-have fashion accessories or something. Worth a crack, I'd have thought. Maybe bung in as a freebiesomething from Fatboy's back catalogue (fairly recently on sale for £3.99 at HMV)

Getting back to the shop and the Bill Archer theme, this is the same shop, remember, where the last time we were top half dozen in Division 2, the ticket sales staff spent a VERY LARGE part of their day putting cheques into stamped addressed envelopes and returning them to sender cos there were no tickets for sale. Never forget who's fault THAT was. The buck stops with Archer.

Absolute crap the evil committed by those 3 has no bearing whatsoever on the stock holding or otherwise of the club shop NOW.

Pure economics say that the club will order X number of the most opular sizes if they all get sold very quickly they will have to wait for some more. There is no way that ANYBODY, DK included can speculate on exactly how many of each size will be sold immediately they go on sale.

Sales figures will show that they usually sell so many of each size but circumstances like pay days, holidays etc dictate that people buy them at different times.

I am not trying to defend either Archer or DK but give an opinion as I see it.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Pure economics say that the club will order X number of the most opular sizes if they all get sold very quickly they will have to wait for some more.

Well the girl in the shop told Stuart Munday the 'if they all get sold very quickly they will have to wait for some more' bit and THPP told NSC the 'Pure economics' bit. So we're all agreed then...

 

[BensGrandad]

What I do not agree with is that if anything goes wrong the feeble excuse given is its Bill Archers fault. The ground etc is sales and marketing now isn't. Please do not think that I am trying to protect Archer far from it but put blame, if any, where it lay.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

What I do not agree with is that if anything goes wrong the feeble excuse given is its Bill Archers fault. The ground etc is sal;es and marketing now isn't.

Sorry Bens Grandad, with respect I'd suggest it's all the exact same root cause i.e. severely cramped finances that can be traced ALL the way back to you know who. Sure if we were still playing at the Goldstone we'd have every right to blame the current chairman and sales and marketing people for their lack of business acumen. But it's obviously being run on a shoestring budget through no fault of any of anybody current, so IMHO they do a damn good job in the circumstances. I mean, just take a look in that shop sometime. You can kit your little niece or nephew in an Albion baby-gro, there's some pretty damn smart tee-shirts and a whole LOAD of shit in there that, OK, some of it you might never buy in a million promotion seasons, but - hey! - it's nice to know it's there. And we're absolute SUCKERS for glossy photo-books with our pictures in aye? Overall I think the club shop dun good.

 

[Gazwag]

What a disaster. That's no way to run a business. Can you imagine the same situation when buying a coach ticket.


I see there's a coach to London at 0800 on Wednesday.

Yes, that's right.

Can I book 2 tickets please.

Yes.

So presumably I can come to the coach station around 0745 and board the coach shortly after.

Yes, unless we sell too many tickets and there's no more room on the coach.

Sorry?

You might not get a seat.

So, just to clarify, I can pre-book tickets now, turn up in time to get on the coach, but may not get a seat.

Yes, that's right.

Forget it then.

Ok then.

Thats how most airlines sell their tickets though

 

[sams dad]

Sorry Bens Grandad, with respect I'd suggest it's all the exact same root cause i.e. severely cramped finances that can be traced ALL the way back to you know who. Sure if we were still playing at the Goldstone we'd have every right to blame the current chairman and sales and marketing people for their lack of business acumen. But it's obviously being run on a shoestring budget through no fault of any of anybody current, so IMHO they do a damn good job in the circumstances. I mean, just take a look in that shop sometime. You can kit your little niece or nephew in an Albion baby-gro, there's some pretty damn smart tee-shirts and a whole LOAD of shit in there that, OK, some of it you might never buy in a million promotion seasons, but - hey! - it's nice to know it's there. And we're absolute SUCKERS for glossy photo-books with our pictures in aye? Overall I think the club shop dun good.

all in all I think they dun good.

Well saidTHPP .ALL the clubs current problems can be laid at the door of Archer and his evil cronies,let's NEVER forget that.

 

[BensGrandad]

I think that you are tryin g to use a 'red herring' to support your argument.

The shop is run as any retail business stocking many items some that sell well and some that hang about. Obviously new shirts are a fast selling item and as such the revenue raised in selling them will pay for the next order and so on until the sales drop. The cash flow is regulated by the spenders now not by any previous board of directors.

We have changed our makers and suppliers so any debts left from DK predecessors would have been cleared or an arrangement to pay made. The general financial ste of the club and the on going costs due to no ground etc can be attributed to the previous boards shortcomings or behaviour but not the day to day trading of the shop.

 

[Icy Gull]

It's so simple even a geek like you could do it, you order 50 size L so you have 20 internet orders and that leaves 30 available to be pre-ordered and once you have 30 pre-ordered then you say you'll have to wait until the next order comes along.
So why do you need this pantomine in the club shop ? It is obvious the commercial side is a total shambles and that is down to Dick Tight

Bloody hell I agree with you Ernest .

How hard is it to let the staff know how many shirts, in what size, have been ordered. Once they have pre-orders for that number they should advise the customer that the shirts are sold out and can they take a phone number to advise you when they expect the next delivery.

Absolutely nothing to do with the three barstewards but it seems convenient to blame them for all the shortcomings of this regime. Dick Knight is supposed to be a PR guru but I personally think that is an urban myth when you study his PR record at the Albion. This is not a knock on a man who has been magnificent in many areas but you have to be blind to see that the PR of this club is still absolutely shite. It's likely to remain that way until supply outstrips demand.

 

[BensGrandad]

Bloody hell I agree with you Ernest .

How hard is it to let the staff know how many shirts, in what size, have been ordered. Once they have pre-orders for that number they should advise the customer that the shirts are sold out and can they take a phone number to advise you when they expect the next delivery.

Absolutely nothing to do with the three barstewards but it seems convenient to blame them for all the shortcomings of this regime. Dick Knight is supposed to be a PR guru but I personally think that is an urban myth when you study his PR record at the Albion. This is not a knock on a man who has been magnificent in many areas but you have to be blind to see that the PR of this club is still absolutely shite. It's likely to remain that way until supply outstrips demand.

We are not going to get people looking at a situation logically are we? That will be a first on here!!

 

[Sergi Gotsmanov]

Its always difficult with new stock so I can see that the club would rather set our expectations correctly and not let people down.

However, it would not costs that much for a decent stock control so you knew at the touch of a button who many of what and what size you had left.

I'm afraid that this is what happens when an ex midfielder with no commercial accumen is put in charge.
Nice enough bloke that he is if he costs the club money in lost opportunities then he's got to go.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

We are not going to get people looking at a situation logically are we?

No. No we're not.

 

[Cian]

The reason the club can't over-order stuff *is* down to not having enough cash in hand to pay for it - they will be operating on cashflow

Being from the bogs, I know the operation of the agri cooperatives. They're in the same situation, and can't order in large amounts of stock in advance, even of stuff they'd sell almost instantly - because suppliers demand that anyone who might be insolvent pay up front. The club, well, is not in the best financial state so suppliers will want instant cash.

And who's fault is it that the club have no cash? Archer, Bellotti, Stanley. Simple as that

(over the top way of saying I agree with THPP)

 

[BensGrandad]

Its always difficult with new stock so I can see that the club would rather set our expectations correctly and not let people down.

However, it would not costs that much for a decent stock control so you knew at the touch of a button who many of what and what size you had left.

I'm afraid that this is what happens when an ex midfielder with no commercial accumen is put in charge.
Nice enough bloke that he is if he costs the club money in lost opportunities then he's got to go.

The theory is good push a button on the till and tells you what you have sold. Push another button and it orders some more great. Do we push a third button and it makes them instantly like a computer printer, printing out tickets.