General City centre shop

Ox4Eva

Ox4Eva

Level: John Aldridge
(141 Apps, 90 Gls)
I have always wanted a shop in town, but wondered if the one in the covered market gets used much?

Every time I have been past it it's always empty with hardly any stock apart from the new kits.

I also noticed in the John Lewis in Reading the plastics have a concession, wonder if it would work out better for us to have the same in the Westgate store?
 
Rent would be too much in town. the shop in the market is poorly stocked & there was a time it was not open when it should have been
 
Trouble is it is very out of the way and easy to miss. Some signage pointing towards it from the High street / Cornmarket street would probably be very helpful with the sheer number of people that walk down there on weekends.
 
Portable shop on Cornmarket street would make a fortune. Can even sell tickets from it. Surely OCC won’t charge us to much in rent? Seems stupid the club not doing this.
 
I think the issue with the covered market is the footfall and those who visit it are mostly tourists and students and neither have any interest in our merchandise.

But as mentioned there is not much choice in there either.

I want to see it become successful but you need to sell stuff people want to buy..

Having a concession in a busier area may cost less rent wise maybe?
 
The club have quite simply never been very good when it comes to merch. The Covered Market shop is ok but it still has a big sign on the wall outside which states the wrong opening times. Even has the wrong days it's open. Why an earth it is not amended or just covered up is beyond me! The shop could also do with some action/player pics on the walls or at least a team photo. I have to agree that a pop up shop in the Westgate or Clarendon centre would do well. If the bloke can get his big calendar stall there every year, then surely we can.
 
The pop up shop option in Westgate or Clarendon has always seemed the best option to me, never sure why it hasn’t happened?

It needs to be where the tourists are. I’m sure i’m not alone in buying bits of Footie memorabilia when I’ve stumbled across a club stall when on my hols. I have some very random pin badges and Footie shirts!

Even if it was just a temporary pop up over Summer / Xmas you’d easily be able to staff it with temp college / uni people looking for some money outside of term time.

I think it was during the build up to one of the JPT finals, the club had temporary stalls selling stuff outside the ground, so they should have the stalls ready to use etc.
 
Upthecowboys said:
The pop up shop option in Westgate or Clarendon has always seemed the best option to me, never sure why it hasn’t happened?

It needs to be where the tourists are. I’m sure i’m not alone in buying bits of Footie memorabilia when I’ve stumbled across a club stall when on my hols. I have some very random pin badges and Footie shirts!

Even if it was just a temporary pop up over Summer / Xmas you’d easily be able to staff it with temp college / uni people looking for some money outside of term time.

I think it was during the build up to one of the JPT finals, the club had temporary stalls selling stuff outside the ground, so they should have the stalls ready to use etc.
Click to expand...

Covered market is full of tourists and students and neither group show any interest in OUFC.

Maybe Oxford people may buy something if they seen it on display in a more mainstream location.

The JPT stalls were nothing to do with the club if memory serves me right.
 
londonroad said:
Rent would be too much in town. the shop in the market is poorly stocked & there was a time it was not open when it should have been
Click to expand...

If I remember right, the bloke(?) who owns The Market Barber gave up part of his shop to accomodate a club shop in the City centre. The rents in the covered market have always been extortionate, but since the Westgate re-opened, no-one else can compete. It's almost like OCC want it to go tits-up. How many student flats could you fit in the footprint of the covered market (est. 1774 I think it says)?
 
Do the club still sell shirts in the sports shops in Witney, Abingdon, Didcot and Wantage? Surely that would be more beneficial branching out into the local sports shops around the county? Most Oxford fans don't live in Oxford so wouldn't be passing either the club shop at the stadium other than on match day and very rarely, if ever the one in the city centre.
 
brokeandobscure said:
If I remember right, the bloke(?) who owns The Market Barber gave up part of his shop to accomodate a club shop in the City centre. The rents in the covered market have always been extortionate, but since the Westgate re-opened, no-one else can compete. It's almost like OCC want it to go tits-up. How many student flats could you fit in the footprint of the covered market (est. 1774 I think it says)?
Click to expand...
or a football stadium ? right in the heart of the city
 
Steve Gilbert said:
Do the club still sell shirts in the sports shops in Witney, Abingdon, Didcot and Wantage? Surely that would be more beneficial branching out into the local sports shops around the county? Most Oxford fans don't live in Oxford so wouldn't be passing either the club shop at the stadium other than on match day and very rarely, if ever the one in the city centre.
Click to expand...

TopSports in Wootton Road, Abingdon sell OUFC merchandise i believe. I thought there were similar arrangements with shops in other towns but could be wrong.
 
nick68 said:
TopSports in Wootton Road, Abingdon sell OUFC merchandise i believe. I thought there were similar arrangements with shops in other towns but could be wrong.
Click to expand...
TopSports branches in Kidlington and Witney have now closed down.
 
Would it not be better to move into this century and just sell decent products online? Pop up stall on match days makes sense but massive shops struggle now, how are we supposed to succeed?

Saying that when I was in Rome Roma shops were everywhere and they sold match tickets on the street in tourist areas, whereas Lazio had none of that as far as I could see, I know Roma have the city name/brand (similar to Tigers vision) to market off but the two clubs share a stadium so it was interesting to see such a contrast.
 
I would say the bigger issue is the lack of content in both shops and online, beyond home and away shirts not sure there's much else to spend your money on. I went in the club shop on Saturday and was shocked at how sparse it was in terms of items for sale.
It's all very well having city centre and online shops but if you've nothing to sell in them what's the point?
 
brokeandobscure said:
If I remember right, the bloke(?) who owns The Market Barber gave up part of his shop to accomodate a club shop in the City centre. The rents in the covered market have always been extortionate, but since the Westgate re-opened, no-one else can compete. It's almost like OCC want it to go tits-up. How many student flats could you fit in the footprint of the covered market (est. 1774 I think it says)?
Click to expand...

Coincidentally that is exactly the number of flats they would squeeze in.
 
Merchandise has always been tin pot, when I come across another teams club shop I always pop in to look around and most clubs are far far better.

I do like the boys from up the hill t shirt though, again we should be making more of our history with a retro range!
 
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Ox4Eva said:
Merchandise has always been tin pot, when I come across another teams club shop I always pop in to look around and most clubs are far far better.

I do like the boys from up the hill t shirt though, again we should be making more of our history with a retro ranger!
Click to expand...
There is an obsession with doing it ourselves, and with a few notable exceptions they have been crap or tired template designs.
There are new companies like https://theterracestore.com/ the club could partner with (they are official partners with Ipswich and Plymouth amongst others). They have the ability to print/make to order, in often small runs. Ideal for footy merch where things might not take off meaning the club wouldn't take the risk. Things like phone cases, where the club has one from memory, for an old model iPhone, they can 3d print to order for hundreds of phone makes/models.
Yes the club would be looking at a smaller cut, but it's better than a bigger cut of sod all.
 
OUFCGav said:
There is an obsession with doing it ourselves, and with a few notable exceptions they have been crap or tired template designs.
There are new companies like https://theterracestore.com/ the club could partner with (they are official partners with Ipswich and Plymouth amongst others). They have the ability to print/make to order, in often small runs. Ideal for footy merch where things might not take off meaning the club wouldn't take the risk. Things like phone cases, where the club has one from memory, for an old model iPhone, they can 3d print to order for hundreds of phone makes/models.
Yes the club would be looking at a smaller cut, but it's better than a bigger cut of sod all.
Click to expand...

Good idea, I am sick of poor over priced cheap crap with just an Ox head print on it.

Already some great ideas for U's stuff on there and would not take much for some clever t shirt designs etc

theterracestore.com

Search: 267 results found for "oxford"

Football gifts and merchandise, with free personalisation and thousands of products across hundreds of clubs. Full of iconic retro and fan culture collections, making the perfect collectibles for fans.
theterracestore.com theterracestore.com
 
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OUFCGav said:
the club have listened to my pestering :)
www.oufc.co.uk

Oxford United Team Up With The Terrace | Oxford United Football Club

Oxford United have teamed up with football inspired retro specialists The Terrace to produce a range of official licensed Oxford United products. The Terrace brand is at the forefront of football culture-inspired merchandise.
www.oufc.co.uk www.oufc.co.uk
Click to expand...

Good news that, we’ll done all involved.

They’ve got a good range, so nice to be able to buy stuff and know the club will benefit.
 
Some nice stuff there but the prices seem a bit steep. £10 for a mug? Now, what I'd really love is a retro Headington United shirt.
 
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