[Albion] Albion shop opens in Churchill Square

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

The numbers don't stack up. Given the state of retail / the high street at the moment I'm not surprised the club don't want to sink a load of money into a failing channel

Have you seen the state of the Amex club shop on a non-match day? Staff far out-number customers. Big old outlet to deal with online orders. I'd bet good money that the Churchill Square shop will do far more business on a non-matchday than the Amex shop does.

 

[Springal]

Have you seen the state of the Amex club shop on a non-match day? Staff far out-number customers. Big old outlet to deal with online orders. I'd bet good money that the Churchill Square shop does more business on a non-matchday than the Amex shop does.

Probably. But I bet the overheads of the Churchill Square store make it barely worth bothering with - even at peak trade. Let alone the lows.

 

[RossyG]

I've been to the Amex shop on a non match day and it was devoid of customers.

I imagine most of the staff were out back parcelling up internet orders, which probably account for a lot of their trade these days hence no regular shop in town.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Probably. But I bet the overheads of the Churchill Square store make it barely worth bothering with - even at peak trade. Let alone the lows.

See post #56 by [MENTION=22135]rippleman[/MENTION]. There's a massive market sector the club have been largely missing out on, who are never going to shop online and are never going to make the trek out to the Amex either.

 

[Brovion]

See post #56 by [MENTION=22135]rippleman[/MENTION]. There's a massive market sector the club have been largely missing out on, who are never going to shop online and are never going to make the trek out to the Amex either.

I'm not totally convinced that enough uncles, grandmas and the occasional foreigner visitor wanting to buy the odd scarf will really generate enough business to support a permanent store in Churchill Square. However I could be wrong, and given that Mr Barber knows how to milk every penny I'm sure that if this temporary store is a huge success we'll see a permanent shop (again) before long. As you mentioned earlier maybe piggy-backing on someone like JD Sports might be the answer, a sort of half-way house between having our own shop and not having a presence at all.

However if it's just going to stock the same tat that the store in the Amex does then it will struggle regardless. That's where the problem is IMO: never mind the retail channel, there has got to be something decent to buy.

 

[Weststander]

Probably. But I bet the overheads of the Churchill Square store make it barely worth bothering with - even at peak trade. Let alone the lows.

The rent and rates bills will be colossal.

But obviously hope it’s viable and a success.

 

[dolphins]

I popped into the Churchill Square shop today for the first time. An attractive layout/design, a decent range of items (a few I'd not seen before and looked very nice indeed) and a steady amount of customers, a fair chunk of which seemed to be foreign tourists, students, as well as some Brits too. Hope it proves successful so they go for the longer term lease of a unit in the shopping centre.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Went in there for the first time this morning. It's an improvement on previous years set-up-stall-in-the-mall efforts but still more than a bit crap. Very limited stock, three staff behind the counter, all watching me, the only customer, like a HAWK, like I was going to nick something. Which would obviously have added some excitement to their day. Always one for asking the bleeding obvious, and keen to break the ice with my silent accusers, I enquired as to whether stuff could be ordered online and delivered to the Churchill Square shop for collection. And the answer is of course not. You either have it delivered at home when you'll probably be out, else you have to troll on out to the Amex. Like I say, still a bit crap.

 

[Palacefinder General]

^ similar experience, one member of staff lurking by the door like a security guard isn’t the best idea when it’s a small unit in any case, and can deter casual passing trade. In vaguely related news, I was impressed with Decathlon on North St, 3 big floors and only 2 members of staff to be (vaguely) seen, no visible security, the whole thing pretty much a DIY experience, including the changing rooms, which I prefer, including ‘drop in bin’ self check outs, although I appreciate it’s not for everyone, but it’s surely the future of high street retail.