The best stuff was when the Burro guys were producing for us. The worst was that ridiculous Red Red sub brand. Personally, I'm glad our kit is not made by Nike or the other big brands - but then I just hate the way that brand names sell purely on their name anyway. The only kit that I ever had a problem with the quality of was the centenery kit with the peel off lettering.
I agree that the shop (I never call it "Superstore", as the name is ridiculous) is generally too expensive and the range is too limited. I've lost count of the times I've said to our little 'un, "do you want anything"? Only to ge the reply, "Not really, thanks".
Those asking for brand name kits, did any of you actually see the Man Utd kit from last year with the black V on it? A cheap, generic design made from cheap, thin, shiny nylon, and that's what some of you want for our club?
I'm not one for brand labels (used to be but grew out of it and saw it for the utter con, waste of money and general follow the herd type activity that it is) but i don't think there is any doubt that the Arsenal and Chelsea kits for instance are far better quality and indeed i dare say that a lot of the stuff they have in there shops will be quite decent. I think we've always lacked on this front and personally i'd far sooner pay a bit more for something better but if the figures don't stack up then i guess we're stuck with it. Probably for the best coz being a Charlton fan means we pay a quarter of the price to get in and half the price when buying my kids stuff. Maybe the club could look into a 'special' range each year though because it does matter to kids to have the right gear on when growing up. Maybe Nike or Adidas could do us a range of kids training gear although i suppose this would impact on the Macron deal? I'm sure (no, suspect) there may bea way round it that will help with the cred in the playground.
I'm away with work this week up in Brum! Just popped into the villa park club shop! They're with Nike at the moment and you can see the difference in quality and also choice that's available! There shops not huge but I'd say 1.5 times the size of ours! Plenty of baby/womens merchandise available too!
As I left I see a stand with players boots on! All boots have been worn by the players and are for sale at £50 a pair all money raised goes into youth set up! Bentys nikes were still there alongside some Richard dunnes puma kings! Nice way to pump a bit more money into the youth!
Don't worry I didn't buy anything of course plus I'm saving up for my charlton life badge!
Villa are a bigger club and playing 2 leagues higher. The worn boots idea is great, but I suspect that it's partly down to the fact that sponsors give those higher-level players more gear than they can use, which I'm not sure will apply at our level.
I know I'm way out of line here, and there's always room for improvement, but I think a lot of the stuff is quite nicely designed, the likes of the Killer shirts were smart and a bit different. I hated that Cabrini shirt, but generally our designs haven't been as bad as some of the reaction on here suggests.
Went in the superstore (trading standards should investigate as there is nothing super about the store) every game last season and always came out empty handed. The quality of goods on sale is poor, I do not like the nylon clothing, but what is wrong with some good old fashioned cotton polo shirts and sweat shirts. I seem to recall that the half decent polo shirts had macron in great big letters on the back, which put me off totally.
Also I used to buy the 6x4 photos of the players, going back to the early 90s. Now the only photos they sell are large ones at £2 each. C'mon Charlton, other clubs (even those in league 2 - and Palarse) know how to get the right type of merchandise in their shops.
I have no objection to a tee or polo shirt with a small discreetly placed CAFC badge perhaps on the sleeve or hem but why does it have to be so large and not perhaps so suitable for wearing at any other time apart from watching at The Valley. Stops me considering even looking these days.
Those asking for brand name kits, did any of you actually see the Man Utd kit from last year with the black V on it? A cheap, generic design made from cheap, thin, shiny nylon, and that's what some of you want for our club?
Those asking for brand name kits, did any of you actually see the Man Utd kit from last year with the black V on it? A cheap, generic design made from cheap, thin, shiny nylon, and that's what some of you want for our club?
It's about fashion Henry. I don't really expect you to understand. ;-)
I don't doubt the kits are all made in China, but many fans would but all sorts of Nike branded items from the club shop where as Macron just doesn't have the same credibility.
You're right. I understand style not fashion : - )
They may say they want Nike branded stuff but you can buy Nike T-shirts for £7 in JD Sports. And we'd have to sell £ms worth to make up what we'd lose from the Macron deals. Remember we only get a fraction of the £40 as profit on each shirt sold after tax and cost of sales.
I agree that the shop could up it's game considerably but a comparison to Spurs is like complainng that your corner shop doesn't have the stock range of Sainsbury's.
Yes but a comparison with Barnsley is more than fair. Simple and will last more than a few washes:
The main problem with the Nike and Adidas kits that non league teams get is the money involved. I am sure you are aware that Manchester United are currently negotiating a major new deal with Nike right now, and are pushing for £40 million a year in sponsorship.
We get sponsorship (i.e we get paid to wear) Macron kits, and the reason why we have Macron now is because they were willing to pay more than Joma. Non (and lower) League teams get the kits from an independent supplier, from a catalogue, and therefore do not directly get sponsorship money.
I have worked in this industry and I can tell you right now if we signed up with Nike then we wouldn't get a nice new kit straight from them, we would end up with something like this with our badge sewn on.
The main problem with the Nike and Adidas kits that non league teams get is the money involved. I am sure you are aware that Manchester United are currently negotiating a major new deal with Nike right now, and are pushing for £40 million a year in sponsorship.
We get sponsorship (i.e we get paid to wear) Macron kits, and the reason why we have Macron now is because they were willing to pay more than Joma. Non (and lower) League teams get the kits from an independent supplier, from a catalogue, and therefore do not directly get sponsorship money.
I have worked in this industry and I can tell you right now if we signed up with Nike then we wouldn't get a nice new kit straight from them, we would end up with something like this with our badge sewn on.
Don't doubt you for a minute Sam. What I'd ask then, is why don't Barnsley need this money from Macron and Joma? Why don't Palace?
The main problem with the Nike and Adidas kits that non league teams get is the money involved. I am sure you are aware that Manchester United are currently negotiating a major new deal with Nike right now, and are pushing for £40 million a year in sponsorship.
We get sponsorship (i.e we get paid to wear) Macron kits, and the reason why we have Macron now is because they were willing to pay more than Joma. Non (and lower) League teams get the kits from an independent supplier, from a catalogue, and therefore do not directly get sponsorship money.
I have worked in this industry and I can tell you right now if we signed up with Nike then we wouldn't get a nice new kit straight from them, we would end up with something like this with our badge sewn on.
Don't doubt you for a minute Sam. What I'd ask then, is why don't Barnsley need this money from Macron and Joma? Why don't Palace?
That will be Crystal Palace who sold all retailing to an outsider company and went into administration. And still got a bog standard Nike shirt out of a catalogue.
You could equally ask why do teams who sell far more shirts than we do such as Leeds and West Ham go with Macron? Maybe they have more savvy commercial staff who follow the ££££ not the brand.
Firstly, nothing wrong with the Macron or Joma kits -quality is just as good as a Nike kit would be. If you buy a Charlton shirt it is becuase you support Charlton -if you want a Nike shirt because you are into brands you buy a Nike shirt -football kits are different. BTW don't wash at too high a temp and wash with kit inside out -then your stickers logos wont peel off - if not they peel off Nike kits too.
As for the quality, you go to an aquarium or museum and you will find lots of tat in their shops - souvenir tat for people looking to buy something cheap, all club shops will sell some tat but there is some quality stuff - the Red Macron ball we bought last season is a quality ball for the money.
What I would agree with is, the shop should always have babywear in -not necessarily kits but if you have a baby the first thing you want to dress it in is something Charlton.Good news they will start number printing on matchdays- I always thought they were missing out on money as their must be a decent mark up on numbers and letters.
But when you are in League 1 you expect the store not to have the same range as it did when the Valley was sold out and everybody was happy. When we are doing rubbish I am less inclined to buy Charlton stuff to remind me of it. Maybe next season will be better. Mind you I still buy my son the goalie kit and a playing kit so I still spend a fair bit.
The main problem with the Nike and Adidas kits that non league teams get is the money involved. I am sure you are aware that Manchester United are currently negotiating a major new deal with Nike right now, and are pushing for £40 million a year in sponsorship.
We get sponsorship (i.e we get paid to wear) Macron kits, and the reason why we have Macron now is because they were willing to pay more than Joma. Non (and lower) League teams get the kits from an independent supplier, from a catalogue, and therefore do not directly get sponsorship money.
I have worked in this industry and I can tell you right now if we signed up with Nike then we wouldn't get a nice new kit straight from them, we would end up with something like this with our badge sewn on.
Don't doubt you for a minute Sam. What I'd ask then, is why don't Barnsley need this money from Macron and Joma? Why don't Palace?
Maybe they do get money from Nike, but they still get the bog standard kits, maybe they actually get the sponsorship money from the supplier they choose to order the kit from, or maybe they believe that the lure of Nike to younger kids, and the added sales from supplementary items makes up for the loss of sponsorship money, as they can sell Nike football boots and other generic Nike products inside the store.
Every team does things differently, and unfortunately unless you are directly involved then there is no way of finding out the exact ins and outs. The club that I assisted chose a smaller company to get the kit from as they believed the added sponsorship money is a more stable income, and they were offered a bespoke kit that reflected the clubs history as opposed to having a Liverpool kit in blue instead of red.
My guess is that we believe that a certain amount of shirts will sell no matter what, and therefore trying to entice more people to buy the kit by going for a generic 'big brand' won't benefit us sufficiently to cover the amount we currently receive from the sponsorship.
I think that's right - people will primarily buy a Charlton kit because it is Charlton and they like the look of it, If I was in Sports Direct I might go for the Nike T-shirt above the Macron one but it is different the minute the Charlton badge is on it - that is what you buy- not the manufacturer's logo.
When it comes to Charlton, I will buy nearly anything but draw the line at obviously cheap or tacky rubbish. I went into the shop yesterday ready to "buy something" but left empty handed. To be fair, it didvlook like there was a re-stock underway. It's holiday season and I need four good quality Charlton beach towels for my stay at a Millwall mate's villa. Finger crossed.
some improvements in the infant section and baby clothes, but really who is going to pay £18 for some pyjamas for a 3yr old, shame cos at nearer a tenner I might have been tempted.
Can we have the KRBS polo shirt back too from a year or so back (know which one I mean)? Or does it look too similar to the home shirt/or problem with MACRON supplying it?
some improvements in the infant section and baby clothes, but really who is going to pay £18 for some pyjamas for a 3yr old, shame cos at nearer a tenner I might have been tempted.
Someone that has been complaining for 3 years about the lack of clothing for kids? you've had 3 years to save up. They've created a garment at the appropriate price to satisfy the demand for the item, and you won't pay it. they can't win.
I went in the shop a few times in august time and thought it looked great. clean, neat and lots of choice. didn't look at the pricing details too much. Having said that, the queue to buy match tickets was 5 people long as the printing machine wouldn't work and not 1 person was interested in looking round the shop whilst waiting for it to be fixed everyone just huffed at how there were 3 staff manning tills in the shop but only 1 could serve tickets.
Brighton's shop used to double as the ticket office and the shop and you could buy everything from any cashier, bit like cinema's have started selling tickets at food/drink counters. Could the tills/systems be moved over from the other ticket offices for this to happen and staff training?
Also, when will they open the kiosk inthe north lower during the game/half time as every home game when I sit in the north west at half time it is closed and they could definately do a bit of business there, selling programmes, or bits and bobs for kids that have got into the game during the first half.
it's really hard to find a programme in the ground after the game has started if you didn't get a chance before the game.
but suze they haven't created it at an appropriate price that is exactly my point, plus I do say they've improved - credit where its due on both counts?
Im sure the club haven't thought - 'let's buy this item for XX and charge the fans loads more to make a massive profit'.
They probably ordered the minimum amount they could as they didn't know what the take up would be which probably meant that the item price to buy (for them) would have been more expensive thus charging the amount they have done.
Above on this thread people are asking for quality and a price they would be willing to pay. Unless the shop became some kind of 'pay as much as you like' type retailer you're always going to pay more than you'd like.
just think they've got it wrong and could do more, but I'm just a customer with disposable income and a young son who I want to buy CAFC related merchandiese for, what would I know
The new baby stuff is really poor, it looks like the sort of fake rubbish they sell on the stalls outside, on the other hand i've been told Macron are going to be sending in some baby stuff soon which can only be better then that.
I've bought the new pyjamas for my son , a snip at £18 but then again my kids are decked out in as much designer gear as possible . Plus I take them on planes
The new baby stuff is really poor, it looks like the sort of fake rubbish they sell on the stalls outside, on the other hand i've been told Macron are going to be sending in some baby stuff soon which can only be better then that.
I went into the shop for the first time in age and thought the baby stuff was much improved. When I wentt in their last year you could be a baby towel or soft ball and that was it for under 5s. The fact that they now have a 'range' has to be an improvement, even if the range isn't that great.
Apart from club strips every item of clothing in there is generic from Macron and they just add our logo. This can make it look a little fake, but most clubs do this and have been doing it for years. There is simply not the market to have stuff specially made.
Comments
The best stuff was when the Burro guys were producing for us. The worst was that ridiculous Red Red sub brand. Personally, I'm glad our kit is not made by Nike or the other big brands - but then I just hate the way that brand names sell purely on their name anyway. The only kit that I ever had a problem with the quality of was the centenery kit with the peel off lettering.
I agree that the shop (I never call it "Superstore", as the name is ridiculous) is generally too expensive and the range is too limited. I've lost count of the times I've said to our little 'un, "do you want anything"? Only to ge the reply, "Not really, thanks".
I'm not one for brand labels (used to be but grew out of it and saw it for the utter con, waste of money and general follow the herd type activity that it is) but i don't think there is any doubt that the Arsenal and Chelsea kits for instance are far better quality and indeed i dare say that a lot of the stuff they have in there shops will be quite decent. I think we've always lacked on this front and personally i'd far sooner pay a bit more for something better but if the figures don't stack up then i guess we're stuck with it. Probably for the best coz being a Charlton fan means we pay a quarter of the price to get in and half the price when buying my kids stuff. Maybe the club could look into a 'special' range each year though because it does matter to kids to have the right gear on when growing up. Maybe Nike or Adidas could do us a range of kids training gear although i suppose this would impact on the Macron deal? I'm sure (no, suspect) there may bea way round it that will help with the cred in the playground.
As I left I see a stand with players boots on! All boots have been worn by the players and are for sale at £50 a pair all money raised goes into youth set up! Bentys nikes were still there alongside some Richard dunnes puma kings! Nice way to pump a bit more money into the youth!
Don't worry I didn't buy anything of course plus I'm saving up for my charlton life badge!
Villa are a bigger club and playing 2 leagues higher. The worn boots idea is great, but I suspect that it's partly down to the fact that sponsors give those higher-level players more gear than they can use, which I'm not sure will apply at our level.
I know I'm way out of line here, and there's always room for improvement, but I think a lot of the stuff is quite nicely designed, the likes of the Killer shirts were smart and a bit different. I hated that Cabrini shirt, but generally our designs haven't been as bad as some of the reaction on here suggests.
Yes please!
Yes but a comparison with Barnsley is more than fair. Simple and will last more than a few washes:
http://www.justsport-shop.com/cgi-bin/live/ecommerce.pl?site=bfc_clubshop&state=products&dept_id=02&sub_dept_id=01
Don't doubt you for a minute Sam. What I'd ask then, is why don't Barnsley need this money from Macron and Joma? Why don't Palace?
You could equally ask why do teams who sell far more shirts than we do such as Leeds and West Ham go with Macron? Maybe they have more savvy commercial staff who follow the ££££ not the brand.
As for the quality, you go to an aquarium or museum and you will find lots of tat in their shops - souvenir tat for people looking to buy something cheap, all club shops will sell some tat but there is some quality stuff - the Red Macron ball we bought last season is a quality ball for the money.
What I would agree with is, the shop should always have babywear in -not necessarily kits but if you have a baby the first thing you want to dress it in is something Charlton.Good news they will start number printing on matchdays- I always thought they were missing out on money as their must be a decent mark up on numbers and letters.
But when you are in League 1 you expect the store not to have the same range as it did when the Valley was sold out and everybody was happy. When we are doing rubbish I am less inclined to buy Charlton stuff to remind me of it. Maybe next season will be better. Mind you I still buy my son the goalie kit and a playing kit so I still spend a fair bit.
I think that's right - people will primarily buy a Charlton kit because it is Charlton and they like the look of it, If I was in Sports Direct I might go for the Nike T-shirt above the Macron one but it is different the minute the Charlton badge is on it - that is what you buy- not the manufacturer's logo.
Can we have the KRBS polo shirt back too from a year or so back (know which one I mean)? Or does it look too similar to the home shirt/or problem with MACRON supplying it?
Someone that has been complaining for 3 years about the lack of clothing for kids? you've had 3 years to save up. They've created a garment at the appropriate price to satisfy the demand for the item, and you won't pay it. they can't win.
I went in the shop a few times in august time and thought it looked great. clean, neat and lots of choice. didn't look at the pricing details too much. Having said that, the queue to buy match tickets was 5 people long as the printing machine wouldn't work and not 1 person was interested in looking round the shop whilst waiting for it to be fixed everyone just huffed at how there were 3 staff manning tills in the shop but only 1 could serve tickets.
Brighton's shop used to double as the ticket office and the shop and you could buy everything from any cashier, bit like cinema's have started selling tickets at food/drink counters. Could the tills/systems be moved over from the other ticket offices for this to happen and staff training?
Also, when will they open the kiosk inthe north lower during the game/half time as every home game when I sit in the north west at half time it is closed and they could definately do a bit of business there, selling programmes, or bits and bobs for kids that have got into the game during the first half.
it's really hard to find a programme in the ground after the game has started if you didn't get a chance before the game.
Im sure the club haven't thought - 'let's buy this item for XX and charge the fans loads more to make a massive profit'.
They probably ordered the minimum amount they could as they didn't know what the take up would be which probably meant that the item price to buy (for them) would have been more expensive thus charging the amount they have done.
Above on this thread people are asking for quality and a price they would be willing to pay. Unless the shop became some kind of 'pay as much as you like' type retailer you're always going to pay more than you'd like.
The new baby stuff is really poor, it looks like the sort of fake rubbish they sell on the stalls outside, on the other hand i've been told Macron are going to be sending in some baby stuff soon which can only be better then that.
I went into the shop for the first time in age and thought the baby stuff was much improved. When I wentt in their last year you could be a baby towel or soft ball and that was it for under 5s. The fact that they now have a 'range' has to be an improvement, even if the range isn't that great.
Apart from club strips every item of clothing in there is generic from Macron and they just add our logo. This can make it look a little fake, but most clubs do this and have been doing it for years. There is simply not the market to have stuff specially made.