Tranmere thread

I do see it and it would be the ideal situation but it must be difficult to achieve at this time of year.
 
I see the clubs position and it must be frustrating for them to not have a fully stocked shop at a time of year when people may want the products. I bet it was equally frustrating for them to have such a poor crowd on yesterday.

No excuse for season tickets though. Many of them have been ordered for weeks and in my eyes should be produced well before the start of the season. Every year it is a matter of hours before the first game before they are available and that isn't ideal. but then again I suppose it saves £300 on stamps
 
When ordering merchandise you tend to have to order in hundreds and thousands as a minimum order. Of course Stanley have a small fan base, so they can't shift those sort of numbers, and you have to really pick and choose the items that can be stocked.

The ideal situation is where you have a supplier that can provide a small number of products, where no backup stock is required. If they sell out they get replaced, if they don't there is a minimum loss of profit and no storeroom of stock to shift at below cost price. Of course these sort of suppliers don't exist.

The lads who work in the shop probably feel like a butcher in a supermarket where head office have only ordered sausage and burgers :)
 
I felt for the lads in the Shop yesterday there were a few bits & pieces but nothing of any great interest, I would think most Stanley fans as Wyn posted would take a bit of pride in wearing a Club T-Shirt or New Home Top in fact it's one of the greatest Free Advetisng Campaigns the Club can have is it not?

Sure money is tight at this time of the Season for the Club I understand that and wish them well but at the same time I also wish to spend money with them which I will do again on Tuesday with turnstile money.

I also currently have money set aside for the New Home shirt but it ain't half burning a hole in my pocket but coming off the back of our biggest ever pre-season friendly & potentially the Club's biggest free advertising campaign with the high profile fixture on Sky of the Pompey Game I would at least hope stock is in place for that game or it is an even bigger own goal.
 
To me unless i'm dense, it would have been good business to mention weeks ago on the fishy, on accyweb etc Stanley are considering ordering T- shirts fer the 125 yrs thing and other opportunitys that crop up, Surely then if there where orders/sizes etc, a smaller supplier could be found, if no orders they have lost nowt!! no unless i'm stupid what would be wrong wi that?:confused:
 
To me unless i'm dense, it would have been good business to mention weeks ago on the fishy, on accyweb etc Stanley are considering ordering T- shirts fer the 125 yrs thing and other opportunitys that crop up, Surely then if there where orders/sizes etc, a smaller supplier could be found, if no orders they have lost nowt!! no unless i'm stupid what would be wrong wi that?:confused:

There are lots of ways to skin a cat.... you just have to want to do it ;)
 
Or perhaps the business acumen.?:rolleyes:

The reality is there isn't enough staff. The decision to cut costs took away the person who worked full time in the retail section, therefore the assumption is the retail side doesn't generate enough income to pay a salary. I would imagine the same rules have always applied to the catering side.
 
Funny how when we were a semi-pro club in the depths of the North West Counties League, we could always manage to knock out a few T-shirts, even in the summer. Now, apparently, it's too difficult for us. Strange that. :rolleyes:
 
suggestion.

Why don't the club go into partnership with the OSC or a likeminded fan/fans who will provide merchandise to the club?
The OSC/fan can a mark up on the raw cost plus a small uplift for their troubles and the club can make a larger mark up selling at retail price?

That way, the club will stock products the fans actually want to buy
The OSC will push using the club shop to increase both the clubs and its own income
If an item doesn't sell, there is no risk to the club as they will only act as a sales front
 
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?

As somebody who earns a living from procurement and supply I would rather deal direct with Suppliers that way you know your source, get the keenest prices and build up Customer/Supplier relationships.

No risk to the Club but risk to the OSC makes it rather shaky foundations.

There are always ways round situations I know what I would look to do and I am always open to dialogue with the Club in fact if the Club want to engage and pick my brains I will gladly give up some time next week to discuss while I am on holiday.:)
 
Think we may have to speak to Lancsdave....... surely he knows how to procure relatively small numbers of printed tee shirts & not make a loss on sales?
 
If the club have to order in large bulk to get clothing etc then there has to be the demand to sell the product in large quantities to justify purchasing the goods. If the club feel there isn't the demand there to justify large orders they need to arrange an alternative strategy for procurement on the retail side. Even if it means arranging for a local supplier to produce t-shirts etc in smaller quantities, this has to be a better strategy than the one currently being employed by the club.

The club is losing out on fans money due to a lack of coherent procurement policy, this has to change and the sooner it does the sooner the club will have supporters money in the coffers.
 
Think we may have to speak to Lancsdave....... surely he knows how to procure relatively small numbers of printed tee shirts & not make a loss on sales?

We like to think so :D

That boat has long sailed. You can only offer to help out so much including sale or return options, free space in our shop for a town centre club shop, we took the decision a while ago not to keep offering because we were just banging our heads against the wall.

We still do the favours and freebies despite vowing not to but reluctantly accept we just aren't seen to be good enough for anything else. You can't please everybody :)

The non-Samurai clothing range is usually supplied by a company outside the area so no idea why they aren't providing the goods.
 
Or perhaps the business acumen.?:rolleyes:

We like to think so :D

That boat has long sailed. You can only offer to help out so much including sale or return options, free space in our shop for a town centre club shop, we took the decision a while ago not to keep offering because we were just banging our heads against the wall.

We still do the favours and freebies despite vowing not to but reluctantly accept we just aren't seen to be good enough for anything else. You can't please everybody :)

The non-Samurai clothing range is usually supplied by a company outside the area so no idea why they aren't providing the goods.

Well then.seems me quote is pretty near the mark.
 
That boat has long sailed. You can only offer to help out so much including sale or return options, free space in our shop for a town centre club shop, we took the decision a while ago not to keep offering because we were just banging our heads against the wall.

We still do the favours and freebies despite vowing not to but reluctantly accept we just aren't seen to be good enough for anything else. You can't please everybody :)

Perhaps someone from the club would explain why this particular set of opportunities has been ignored. Sale or return options?...free space in a town centre shop?...it seems to me like the club should have snatched Dave's hand off.

So, explanations please, Stanley staff.
 
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?

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 ...
 
Perhaps someone from the club would explain why this particular set of opportunities has been ignored. Sale or return options?...free space in a town centre shop?...it seems to me like the club should have snatched Dave's hand off.

So, explanations please, Stanley staff.

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 ...

Stuff like that Rob, is the reason Wynonie will never get n answer, Whilst on the playing side our staff continue to work miracles, the other side of things has always left much to be desired, in other words, All the clowns aint in the circus!! Excuses like not enough staff cos of cash restrictions are no excuse at all fer inability to do the tasks.:(
 
Stuff like that Rob, is the reason Wynonie will never get n answer, Whilst on the playing side our staff continue to work miracles, the other side of things has always left much to be desired, in other words, All the clowns aint in the circus!! Excuses like not enough staff cos of cash restrictions are no excuse at all fer inability to do the tasks.:(

Undeterred, I once again ask the question - why did the club turn down Dave's offers of help? Free space in his town centre shop and sale or return items sounds like an incredible deal for a football club which is stretched for staff and money.

It's a simple question - why will nobody at Accrington Stanley answer it?
 
Undeterred, I once again ask the question - why did the club turn down Dave's offers of help? Free space in his town centre shop and sale or return items sounds like an incredible deal for a football club which is stretched for staff and money.

It's a simple question - why will nobody at Accrington Stanley answer it?
Perhaps cos yer only a lifelong fan,season ticket holder even now,when yeh spend more than half the season abroad, shareholder, a guy who spends mucho dinero in the shop, sorry yeh probably have to do much more n that to get n answer.:rolleyes:
 
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