ToffeeWeb - Season 2008-09

The Mail Bag

Club shop

I know a lot has been said in the past about the club's lack of commercial awareness but I still find it unbelievable that virtually nothing is for sale in the shop at the ground regarding the match tomorrow.

I got up early today all excited about the impending trip to Wembley. I hounded the missus and half-an-hour later I am outside the club shop with the three kids all in their kits. Eagerly wanting to buy flags and whatever else is waiting to tempt me to part with my cash.

Couple of Fellaini tee-shirts and a scarf was about it, oh and the semi-final programme. I spent the grand sum of 11 quid. Leaves the shop where a steady stream of others are making their way over to the two lads who stand near to the Dixie statue every week; selling it seems everything anyone could want to do with Everton.

Flags in various sizes, hats, more badges than Blue Peter, wigs, car flags, horns ? you name it, they had it. I left with three happy kids and 40 quid lighter. The club shop is proudly informing that it is open from 10am till 2pm on Sunday ? where are most of us going to be then?

Hopefully things will improve next season but I won't hold my breath. I hope everyone has a great day out tomorrow and let's all hope that the next time we go to Wembley in MAY the club have bucked its ideas up. COYB!!!
Colin Lloyd, Liverpool Posted 18/04/2009 at 17:14:07

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Alex French
1 Posted 19/04/2009 at 01:25:18

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It doesn't surprise me, the number of times that I have gone in there they have had nothing that caught my eye. And the number of times I have gone on to the megastore on the internet there is pretty much nothing! :(

It's a sad story when the club don't even sell any merchandise for a massive match tomorrow! Let's hope it changes next year with Le Coq Sportif, although the pictures of the new kit are awful! Sad times for Everton retail...

Matt Traynor
2 Posted 19/04/2009 at 03:49:04

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Merchandise like flags, and Wembley-specific items are always bootleg, the club can?t go out and procure one-off specials like that in time for a one-off game. That kind of merchandise is cheap and minty as fuck, but is only supposed to last for a few weeks anyway.

The club is wrapped up in Image Rights, Quality Standards etc. etc. ? something your average entrepreneur outside the ground (and no doubt outside Wembley) doesn?t have to concern himself with!

The whole retail thing is a complicated bag ? one of the reasons the club outsourced in the first place was they were losing money on stuff! At least that side?s been stabalised (or so we?re told) so the next stage has to be to kick on from the disappointing JJB deal.

Being Asia-based, I?m all too aware of how easy it is out here to get fakes of anything. But I do wonder why the club hasn?t thought of setting up some merchandising operation out here. We?ve got Asian sponsors FFS, and when any of the guys go back to UK for holidays / games, they have shopping list for stuff like you wouldn?t believe (P&P is a bit exorbitant!).

It really wouldn?t be that frigging difficult as most of the stuff is manufactured in Asia anyway. So new Commercial Manager, if you read this, get TW to put you in touch!

Larry Boner
3 Posted 19/04/2009 at 10:16:45

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Amazing then, that Chelsea last week, fearful of Liverpool's flag waving etc provided all of their supporters with flags to wave to boost the atmosphere and support. I?m not suggesting we need any help to support Everton, but it shows that the club can make an effort to bond with their supporters; unfortunately, we continue to miss chance after chance to promote the club and make some money also.

I will never forget when the Rooney phenomenon started at Everton and I took my then 11-year-old to the Everton store to buy him the Rooney No 18 shirt. We get there and there are loads of people with their kids milling around outside and queued up inside, a woman says to me "They have got no OOs (ROONEY) or 8s!!!!!" When I spoke to one of the people working in there, he had no idea when extra stocks would be delivered to the shop!!!

As far as I can see, nothing has changed, totally inept marketing and promotion.

Phil Roberts
4 Posted 19/04/2009 at 10:41:03

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One word never mentioned in these maons about the merchandising is PROFIT.

If the club aren?t going to make any money ? then they are going to lose money. And if you are going to lose money, why do it? So how many flags do they make? 1,000, 10,000, 100,000?

And all the ones made and not sold cost money and thrown away. Watch The Apprentice ? flogging it off at 3 for a £1 when it was going to be thrown away because nobody was buying.

Come Monday morning ? how many "Everton v United @ Wembley" flags will you buy?

And the guys at the statue ? if they are out of stock, will you write to this site and moan? Course you won?t. Megastore and our commercial arm are easy targets. (And they make themselves even easier!)

John Garret
5 Posted 19/04/2009 at 20:10:42

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My Everton oven gloves are just about worn through so it looks like a summer of salads in the hope that the Megastore get their act together before next winter...