General City centre shop

[Ox4Eva]

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?

 

[londonroad]

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

 

[OUFCwaffle]

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.

 

[Junior_1]

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.

 

[Ox4Eva]

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?

 

[nick68]

To be fair the club shop at the Kassam doesn't have an awful lot on show and as for the website. When you compare it to other clubs we are really missing a trick in merchandise.

 

[GRB]

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.

 

[Upthecowboys]

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.

 

[Ox4Eva]

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.

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.

 

[brokeandobscure]

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

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)?

 

[Steve Gilbert]

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.

 

[AbbeyOx]

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)?

or a football stadium ? right in the heart of the city

 

[brokeandobscure]

or a football stadium ? right in the heart of the city

There's an idea! Might have to take out a couple of colleges as well though?

 

[Ox4Eva]

There's an idea! Might have to take out a couple of colleges as well though?

That would be no loss !

 

[nick68]

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.

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.

 

[GRB]

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.

TopSports branches in Kidlington and Witney have now closed down.

 

[AbbeyOx]

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.

yep they sure do

 

[holdsteady]

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.

 

[nick68]

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?

 

[m]

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)?

Coincidentally that is exactly the number of flats they would squeeze in.