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Club shop back in town

I was in town today, and what a pleasant sight to see so many Wanderers shirts about.
I noticed the cardboard cutouts being assembled in any empty shop next to the House of Fraser, I think this is where they are displaying the play off cup on Thursday and Friday.
Surely now, is the time to get a club shop back in the town ?
I would imagine shirt sales of the new product, will be the largest since the O'Neill years.

Comments

  • I think I would rather learn to walk before running. Signing a lease on a premises may not be a good strategy. A short term deal on maybe one of them semi-permanent market stalls in the Eden might work? Hiring staff can be a costly business if it goes belly up.

  • @ChasHarps said:
    I was in town today, and what a pleasant sight to see so many Wanderers shirts about.
    I noticed the cardboard cutouts being assembled in any empty shop next to the House of Fraser, I think this is where they are displaying the play off cup on Thursday and Friday.
    Surely now, is the time to get a club shop back in the town ?
    I would imagine shirt sales of the new product, will be the largest since the O'Neill years.

    Can't see it ever happening again, physical shopping in general is dieing out. Until business rents are drastically cut, I can't see how any Wycombe shop could ever make money in town.

  • I disagree not only can it be a shop selling merchandise, but match tickets and other products. But a way of promoting ourselves in the town, show people how to use the digital tkts etc.
    We need to reconnect with the people of High Wycombe and Bucks after the Wasps fiasco !!
    What better time than when riding on the crest of a wave, to invest some of the 7-10 million winfall in a long term project.

  • I also disagree...surely with the High Street being strangled by online shopping, the best time to try and get a premises and plug the club. People will still want to amble about and browse.

  • It would be nice if the council supported us in some way, bearing in mind having a championship team will only bring more glory to the town.

    Some sort of favourable rates etc?

  • Business rates are collected by the local council but not set by them. I believe the shopping centre is privately owned.

    In theory it’s a lovely idea but financially really hard to see how it could possibly stack up. How many extra shirts, tickets and ancillaries would realistically be sold that wouldn’t have been sold online or at ground?

    Do other clubs of similar size do this?

  • @ChasHarps said:
    I disagree not only can it be a shop selling merchandise, but match tickets and other products. But a way of promoting ourselves in the town, show people how to use the digital tkts etc.
    We need to reconnect with the people of High Wycombe and Bucks after the Wasps fiasco !!
    What better time than when riding on the crest of a wave, to invest some of the 7-10 million winfall in a long term project.

    Ideologically I'm with you 100%, but I'm not convinced money wise. Footfall in town centres is l never going to fully recover to pre -corona virus levels, the world has changed, and shops were shutting at an alarming rate before.

    Until a step change in philosophy from councils is made in terms of rent, I can't see many shops surviving full stop

  • Worth noting again @Username that the shopping centre is privately owned as I believe is most if not all of the High Street. In which neither rent or rates are in the control of the council. Add staff costs, heat light and power, insurance, money handling costs, stock handling costs etc etc and you have a hell of a lot of fixed costs to recover from incremental sales all from a site relatively infrequently visited by target market of predominantly 18-30 and post 50 males. I can’t see how it could hope to stack up.

  • What about a trailer shop? Exeter Chiefs have one that parks up in the city centre and flogs all their culturally insensitive native American-themed tat. Then they have (presumably the same) one parked up by the ground on a match day (disclaimer, I did a day working there once. I do not watch rugby).

    It would be nice to have some sort of presence in town again, Especially if you could also but tickets from there, but we must be careful not to go crazy with this money and must weigh every spend against the likely return.

    Miss the old Wanderers In Town shop down by the crappy bus station. As a kid with no money I used to go in there just to marvel at all the stuff.

  • Doncaster did a ‘pop up’ shop for a few weeks earlier this season in the towns shopping centre as part of their 140 years celebrations. Part shop - part history. No idea how successful it was or how much it cost but occupying an empty space at a negotiated low rate for a few weeks publicity at the start of the season (or start of letting fans back in numbers if that ever happens) might be worth considering.

  • I suppose these days they don't really want or need to be issuing physical tickets.

    Do it online and save on staff costs and paperwork.

  • I think the “pop up” or trailer idea is a good one, I doubt we want to be committing ourself to a long lease.

    That way you could pick and choose the days it operated, and see how it went, try different locations etc?

  • @PBo said:
    I think the “pop up” or trailer idea is a good one, I doubt we want to be committing ourself to a long lease.

    That way you could pick and choose the days it operated, and see how it went, try different locations etc?

    Great idea, could be deployed pre match in the car park on busy days when the normal shop is rammed, have regular weekend spots in town and visit events.

  • @StrongestTeam said:

    @PBo said:
    I think the “pop up” or trailer idea is a good one, I doubt we want to be committing ourself to a long lease.

    That way you could pick and choose the days it operated, and see how it went, try different locations etc?

    Great idea, could be deployed pre match in the car park on busy days when the normal shop is rammed, have regular weekend spots in town and visit events.

    Maybe visit various towns around the county. I can think of a large car park, in Bletchley, where this would, I’m sure, be popular.

  • The county is ours...

  • Oxford United opened a club shop in the Covered Market just off Cornmarket Street and Hugh Street in the very centre of Oxford. It had closed down the last time I went in before the lockdown. Not exactly promising...

  • @PBo said:
    I think the “pop up” or trailer idea is a good one, I doubt we want to be committing ourself to a long lease.

    That way you could pick and choose the days it operated, and see how it went, try different locations etc?

    Think this "trailer" idea is probably the best so far. An upgrade on my "market stall" I proposed earlier. Mobile from town to town & at the stadium on matchdays. May I suggest that the large car park at IKEA in a certain town in North Bucks some Saturdays as a good location?

  • Trailer idea a good one with the main sponsors of the club with advertising space that way self funding.

  • @WanderingDays said:
    Oxford United opened a club shop in the Covered Market just off Cornmarket Street and Hugh Street in the very centre of Oxford. It had closed down the last time I went in before the lockdown. Not exactly promising...

    You have to remember Oxford Utd are a lower league nonentity, not a championship club like Wycombe...

  • With our new American owners, perhaps it could be one of these...

  • With apologies for contaminating The Gasroom Franchise have a small Retail stand in the centre of one of the main MK mall walkways. Naturally I’ve never been near it but it’s a clear presence with I imagine a massive passing footfall. Tickets and Small gift items can be purchased.
    I also remember a couple of years ago that they had a table outside the big MK Tesco selling season tickets.

  • Does anybody have any photos of the original Wanderers In Town? Or indeed the original shop under the flat at Adams Park?

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