RTG Shop and Ticket Office Opening Hours - a comparison



T_Bone said:
That is Feckin ridiculous. My daughter bought our grandson a boys shirt online and it’s miles too big. We don’t live in Sunderland. It woukd be nice to take it back to the shop rather than feck about sending it back. That way the grandson connects with the club.
No point taking it back if they have no kids strips. Rank bad management not to have new strips available for Summer hols.
My kids have told me how much they loved visiting the club shop when they were little. It bonds them to the club.
This and the ticket office fiasco and no cash turnstiles is a disgrace and needs addressing ASAP.
Hell, they might as well pay the ALS staff to sell the stuff for them.
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Marketing/merchandising can certainly be improved upon, and in all honesty, definitely needs to be improved asap, but don't expect the club to revert to having cash turnstiles, as it's most definitely not going to happen, at least not under the current regime, if ever at all.
 
Cool for Catts said:
Marketing/merchandising can certainly be improved upon, and in all honesty, definitely needs to be improved asap, but don't expect the club to revert to having cash turnstiles, as it's most definitely not going to happen, at least not under the current regime, if ever at all.
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No cash turnstiles shows a lack of care for our supporters. Some still use cash only, some may find they can attend at the last minute.
What happened to the Caring Club ?
 
RTG said:
Much has been said on our forums about the very limited opening hours of our Club Shop and Ticket Office. They are at least partially open for callers and phone calls now, but I thought I would compare them with our peers to see if it really was just an SAFC problem or it was […]

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Excellent work.

Following this, whoever it is at the club who is responsible for ticket sales and merchendise should really be looking for ne employment.

The Club is heading in the right direction but ticketing and merch is an absolute shambles.
T_Bone said:
No cash turnstiles shows a lack of care for our supporters. Some still use cash only, some may find they can attend at the last minute.
What happened to the Caring Club ?
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This all day long. Absolutely crazy. There are many who prefer cash and kids dont have credit cards. Literally turning people away and we have thousands of empty seats. Ill say it again absolutely crazy.
 
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The Great MES said:
I'm not having a go at RAWA. I'm more pissed off with the club for not taking them seriously.
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This is my take on it, im a paid up member of the RAWA and it was all positive and sounded good to start but it is just complete lip service from the club each meeting now....there just seems to be nothing pro-active about anything from the club on a customer relation and service point of view (no complaints about the football side of things I must add)
 
T_Bone said:
No cash turnstiles shows a lack of care for our supporters. Some still use cash only, some may find they can attend at the last minute.
What happened to the Caring Club ?
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The powers that be, at SAFC, are modelling our club, on the way which many European clubs are run.
Apparently they've done the maths, and are adamant that having cash turnstiles is not good business for our club.
 
Shieldsman said:
Ironic / a bastard disgrace that the largest supported club by far in the league is the only one that doesn’t have a club shop open 5 days a week. Stinks of the chuckle brothers and something Sartori and the kid need to address ASAP.

FFS - the South Shields shop is open more than ours.
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Whilst I agree, there's no point in keeping a store open if it's losing money. Perhaps other clubs are being badly run and continuing to keep their stores open. Most clubs in the championship seem to be struggling financially.
T_Bone said:
No cash turnstiles shows a lack of care for our supporters. Some still use cash only, some may find they can attend at the last minute.
What happened to the Caring Club ?
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I'd love to know how many actually use cash only. It can't be many.
 
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T_Bone said:
That is Feckin ridiculous. My daughter bought our grandson a boys shirt online and it’s miles too big. We don’t live in Sunderland. It woukd be nice to take it back to the shop rather than feck about sending it back. That way the grandson connects with the club.
No point taking it back if they have no kids strips. Rank bad management not to have new strips available for Summer hols.
My kids have told me how much they loved visiting the club shop when they were little. It bonds them to the club.
This and the ticket office fiasco and no cash turnstiles is a disgrace and needs addressing ASAP.
Hell, they might as well pay the ALS staff to sell the stuff for them.
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Well Said ............And buying on line is ok for some but punters still like to see the goods first.
Really poor from the SAFC marketing team.
They will have "Just Eat" doing food deliveries to seats next.... oh wait a minute ...
 
TB22 said:
Well Said ............And buying on line is ok for some but punters still like to see the goods first.
Really poor from the SAFC marketing team.
They will have "Just Eat" doing food deliveries to seats next.... oh wait a minute ...
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I don’t know if it’s just me, but as an adult going into the club shop gives me a sense of pride. I’m proud to support S.A.F.C.
Can you imagine what it must be like for kids ? The club is missing a trick here and quite honestly is treating their fan base shoddily.
We ve been complaining about these things for a long time now, the fact that they have not addressed the problem is disgraceful.
I’ve said it before, my grandsons fatha “ supports” Man United. He buys him all of their stuff. How are we expected to compete and keep Sunderland AFC in the family when we can’t buy the bairn anything other than a Feckin mug or a scarf.👎
 
gipetto said:
Whilst I agree, there's no point in keeping a store open if it's losing money. Perhaps other clubs are being badly run and continuing to keep their stores open. Most clubs in the championship seem to be struggling financially.


I'd love to know how many actually use cash only. It can't be many.
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Even just pinging a debit/credit card reader. Managed at a couple of gates (at a fixed price all ages ) and go to a "sitin-anyseat sector" would be a help to many and no doubt take a bit of extra revenue.
 
gipetto said:
Whilst I agree, there's no point in keeping a store open if it's losing money. Perhaps other clubs are being badly run and continuing to keep their stores open. Most clubs in the championship seem to be struggling financially.


I'd love to know how many actually use cash only. It can't be many.
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Ha’way man. Do you honestly think EVERY club in our league (and the majority of others leagues lower) would keep their shop open if it operated at a loss?
Yes, there will be days when the store doesn’t take enough to cover the overheads but they will be FAR outweighed by days like tomorrow or Monday (if the bastard thing is open) when there is a new kit launch. It’s how EVERY shop works. Make sufficient hay when the sun is shining to tide you through days when you operate at a loss. If you’re reading this Steve Davison - it’s a principle of called retail management which you may wish to become familiar with sharpish.
As others have mentioned, there’s also the non-quantifiable value of having a club shop open 7 days a week - that being for folk from outside the area to rock up whenever they’re visiting, pop in with their kids buy something no matter how small and reaffirm that connection with SAFC.
Given the club has no presence in the city centre / Washington / Durham and refuses to sell shirts in main stream sport shops, the fact that as it stands, you cannot buy a Sunderland shirt anywhere in person for 5 days of the week is a bastard disgrace.

We all know where the blame lies. Tweedle Dee and Dum attempting to slash costs with fuck all understanding on how a football club runs or the importance of a club shop to its community.
 
Hettonlass said:
Most fans buy tickets and store stuff online
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If you actually look at the figures, tye auK average is 78% are happy to buy on line but 46% prefer to go to a shop.
The lost revenue is massive, I cant see how anyone would have a defensive agenda on this subject.
I would actually be interested in a comparison of league 2 clubs, I still think we would be amongst the worst as very few people that are not an absolute shambolic moran prefers to give away free money.
 
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gipetto said:
Whilst I agree, there's no point in keeping a store open if it's losing money. Perhaps other clubs are being badly run and continuing to keep their stores open. Most clubs in the championship seem to be struggling financially.


I'd love to know how many actually use cash only. It can't be many.
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There will be loads mate, especially supporters of a certain age. Heck I'm 39 and until this year was pretty much cash only until places started pretty much forcing me to use contactless. I know a fair few people who still don't have mobiles, there is a section of fans be it a small number that are being left out here.
 
There is just no way a club the size of ours would lose money having a club shop open during regular retailing hours, providing it was properly stocked and managed.

It's almost an impossibility.

There's a lot of good that has happened with us in recent times, but the off the pitch side needs serious improvement.

It's an embarrassment for a club like ours to have irregular opening hours, very limited stock and for fans not being able to purchase a ticket/have queries answered at ease in a bricks and mortar ticket office or someone to actually answer a phone.

Simply not good enough in any way, shape or form and I just cannot understand how anyone can think otherwise. There are clubs throughout the football pyramid including at L1 and L2 level who have a far superior offering to us. How can anyone think that's acceptable?
 
Dont understand when it comes to kit launches why they dont have pop up shops in city centres or in some of the bigger towns. Im not keen on buying clothing for me or my kids online as a lot of it gets sent back as they dont always fit. But its a chew on arranging to drive through to SOL in hope the club shop is open
 
The Situation said:
There is just no way a club the size of ours would lose money having a club shop open during regular retailing hours, providing it was properly stocked and managed.

It's almost an impossibility.

There's a lot of good that has happened with us in recent times, but the off the pitch side needs serious improvement.

It's an embarrassment for a club like ours to have irregular opening hours, very limited stock and for fans not being able to purchase a ticket/have queries answered at ease in a bricks and mortar ticket office or someone to actually answer a phone.

Simply not good enough in any way, shape or form and I just cannot understand how anyone can think otherwise. There are clubs throughout the football pyramid including at L1 and L2 level who have a far superior offering to us. How can anyone think that's acceptable?
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I think all supporters feel the same, I dont think Mr Davison does, not sure what qualifies him to make decisions in that area, I dont think he has any expertise, if he does he is hiding it very well
 

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