Quote:
Originally Posted by Pendle Red
There was a bit of experimentation a few years ag with the OSC & various T-Shirts etc. which I wasn't really involved in but Macca may be able to tell you better on lines and how it went?
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at the time I wanted to be able to offer a line of products that was affordable and could be spontaneous - ie a quickly produced play-off t-shirt or something topical regarding the next opponents etc. The idea went out and I wanted everybody to be able to offer suggestions on products, pricing, procurement etc. It was a chance for all in the OSC to get involved in running a small business where we had free reign on what mark up we wanted to make. I hated the idea of paying £20 for a t-shirt when I knew it could be produced for far less than a fiver.
I tried to involve the club at every step but the attitude (Eric) was along the lines of "tell us when you've some money to give us". So decisions were made and we spent about £1000 on products and printing and began with a small line in t-shirts, caps, polos, umbrellas and suchlike. We had asked for a corner of the clubhouse to sell our stuff pre-match but when it came to the first game of the season we were told that we couldn't have our corner because the clubhouse was going prawn sandwich. We were also told that we couldn't use The Crown because selling things in there wasn't in their contract. So that left us with Ebay and trying to sell at functions.
From memory I think we ended up having made about £1300 back and had products left over which probably ended up being given away.
In short, we made a do - just, but were hindered greatly by the club taking away much of the market despite knowing our plans so it never continued. In truth the products weren't great but they were produced by people who knew little about the process or creative ideas. Having said that I have no doubt that had we been provided with a route to market the ideas and products would have improved along the way.
It was sad really, I never did get to make the underpants with the Barrow crest inside the gusset ...