More Gus-related disclosures from Paul Barber; if this stuff bores you, do not open thread

[virtual22]

We operated the club shop for years when we were incomparably more skint than we are now... We will be losing a major presence in the town centre that thousands of people see every day.

Barber really seems to look past everything other than the balance sheets.

But then we didn't have the store at the ground, to buy tickets in person you had to go into the store etc. There was really no where else to go so it got a lot of custom. Now there are other options and people are using those. Getting to that store by car is a total PITA so people go to the ground. Doesn't matter how busy the street outside is, if people are not entering the store and spending money you have to close it, or move it, which is what is happening.

Re Barber - like or hate the man, he's not gonna refuse to open a new store if he thinks it's gonna make money, he would probably do it if it just broke even for the advertising and presence in the city. He is just not going to let things carry on that are not self supporting or losing money, which makes perfect sense.

 

[Bwian]

Trade is dropping because people buy online or at the Amex these days. This much is obvious, but it has a greater purpose of raising our profile and attracting new fans.

There will not be a new club shop, there is nowhere in the city centre that is more attractive & will earn more money. It would last 5 minutes in Churchill square for example. How about London Road, Western Road, North Road - Would they be any better locations? No, I don't think you can find a better position than where it as the moment.

I bloody hate Barber's wording "There MAY be a new club shop" - which clearly translates as there is absolutely no intention of a replacement club shop.

Let's be honest here-you hate any and all wording coming out of the club. Especially if it is something about Saint Gus. Have you considered following another club?

 

[Brightonfan1983]

More Gus-related disclosures from Paul Barber; if this stuff bores you, do not

"Didn't want to honour it" could mean anything. His refusal to deal with player contracts is not honouring his contract. I took this particular comment to be quite vague.

It's only vague in that it doesn't give specifics, something that the club has always maintained they never would do. If whatever Gus didn't do, his contract stated that he should, then that's not honouring it. Sounds fine to me.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

If Queens Road is exactly the right place and that can no longer trade profitably then there is little hope for a future city centre presence. What the club needs is a shop that trades profitably, which may not be where the rents are cheapest. If there is no such ;location, better that we leave this as a facility for fans that served a great purpose in the Withdean era.

Queens Road is a legacy from the Withdean era , the club needed retail/ticket office premises in the town when we returned from Gillingham. The council allowed us to play at Withdean under certain conditions , one of those was no POTG and match tickets had to be pre-sold. The football club is moving forward and the shop in Queens Road is now in the wrong place - Location , Location , Location.

 

[JCL - the new kid in town]

We used to have a Man Utd store in Brighton, above Clinton Cards in Western Road.

Used to? doesn't that tell you something?

 

[Icy Gull]

That's not honesty, that's accusing a fellow Albion fan of being cynical about a CEO, coming in and ****ing up our football club so by the end of it he can boast that he cut expenses on his C.V.

I do suspect that the Gus sacking had something to do with Barber & I will get flamed for having this suspicion, but oh well.

From your posts though I get the impression that Gus could do no wrong and Barber can do no right. It can't be that simple can it?

 

[The Large One]

We never had a shop in town in the Goldstone days.

No, but merchandise was available from AA Baker, David Rose, the one in Duke Street whose name evades me, etc.

Why not leave the one in Queens Road, which is one of the busiest roads in Brighton? Thousands of tourists, students, commuters, people in buses and other miscellaneous pedestrians pass it every day.

The location itself isn't too bad (in as much as it's not far from Churchill Square / Western Road), but the road itself is pretty grotty, and it's not one of Brighton's main shopping thoroughfares. And as has been proven, footfall is minimal.

I suspect that he has no intention to open up another club shop, all he cares is saving money wherever he can get away with it, as he has no concern over the long term interests of this club.

Oh, do belt up. Your suspicions are based on your prejudices.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

If Queens Road is exactly the right place and that can no longer trade profitably then there is little hope for a future city centre presence. What the club needs is a shop that trades profitably, which may not be where the rents are cheapest. If there is no such ;location, better that we leave this as a facility for fans that served a great purpose in the Withdean era.

Yes, precisely my point.

 

[Bwian]

That's not honesty, that's accusing a fellow Albion fan of being cynical about a CEO, coming in and ****ing up our football club so by the end of it he can boast that he cut expenses on his C.V.

I do suspect that the Gus sacking had something to do with Barber & I will get flamed for having this suspicion, but oh well.

Point me in the direction of anything positive you've said about the club. It seems whenever your name appears in a thread you are slagging off Barber or leading the campaign for Poyet's sainthood. Where exactly has Barber f**cked up our football club? He may be making a few tough decisions whilst attempting to bring the losses down but I see no evidence of the club being f**cked up. We are no longer 'little old Brighton' playing at Withdean. We are in a brand new stadium that is, despite huge ST Sales, draining money from the club at an alarming rate. I have no allegiance to Barber, nor do I despise him as you (and a few others) clearly do. He has a tough job and some will not like what he HAS TO DO to bring the losses down. If Barber does what he has been employed to do we will have a football club that complies with FFP. The Albion is no longer a cottage industry-it is a multi-Million pound business and that is something many of you fail to grasp. Tony Bloom has single handedly invested more in The Albion over the last few years than, probably, the club has had invested in it since 1901-he is looking to protect his investment en route to the Premier League. The Premier League where we might have been now had Saint Gus completed the job.

 

[Pavilionaire]

Who cares about the Queens Road shop? You can get everything you want online and the Amex club shop is great. Good decision IMHO.

 

[SI 4 BHA]

Trade is dropping because people buy online or at the Amex these days. This much is obvious, but it has a greater purpose of raising our profile and attracting new fans.

There will not be a new club shop, there is nowhere in the city centre that is more attractive & will earn more money. It would last 5 minutes in Churchill square for example. How about London Road, Western Road, North Road - Would they be any better locations? No, I don't think you can find a better position than where it as the moment.

I bloody hate Barber's wording "There MAY be a new club shop" - which clearly translates as there is absolutely no intention of a replacement club shop.

Why do we need a town centre presence?

1. With 30k attending games at the Amex, which has the megastore they can browse in every week or so, how many new fans are missing out? Very few!

2. Where do people go these days for information, do they get a bus or drive into town, where they can't park, or do they go on-line. That's a tricky one!

3. How many other mid sized championship clubs have shops in their town centres? Not many, I would guess. They are all at their grounds.

4. Retail is f**ked anyway.

How does having a tiny underused shop enhance the profile of the club? Coming 4th in the championship and being on tv is what attracts fans, not whether or not we have a city centre shop.

You really do post the most amazing drivel, just because of your irrational hatred of PB and the new regime.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

As Lord B describes, it is much more to do with the clubs approach to it, rather than what they have to do. Let's face it, there is no easy way to be told that things are going to cost more, or that cuts have to be made here and there, but the bull-in-a-china shop approach with absolutely no humility or appreciation for the what the fans/customers DO bring is quite unacceptable.

I said on another thread that the club is taking the current level of support for granted, and it will do that at it's peril.

The issue as far as I understand it is not with the changes and cuts that Barber has implemented. But there are ways of doing things ...

 

[Sergei's Celebration]

Trade is dropping because people buy online or at the Amex these days. This much is obvious, but it has a greater purpose of raising our profile and attracting new fans.

There will not be a new club shop, there is nowhere in the city centre that is more attractive & will earn more money. It would last 5 minutes in Churchill square for example. How about London Road, Western Road, North Road - Would they be any better locations? No, I don't think you can find a better position than where it as the moment.

I bloody hate Barber's wording "There MAY be a new club shop" - which clearly translates as there is absolutely no intention of a replacement club shop.

With a quick bit of Googling i have found that the Opportunity to See figures for Queens road are 380k a week. This includes people in cars, buses, commuters (going both ways) these are not 'shoppers'. To put that into perspective an average of just over 300k people enter and exit the station a week (granted this includes other approaches, but its for comparison).

Churchill square has 300,000 footfall on average per week, these are shoppers. People out buying stuff.

If after the hard figures shown here do you still think that you cant get a better location in Brighton than Queens road?

For the stato's figures used are from advertising selling on Queens road and rental opportunities in the square and figures for station use 11/12.

 

[The Large One]

Why do we need a town centre presence?

1. With 30k attending games at the Amex, which has the megastore they can browse in every week or so, how many new fans are missing out? Very few!

2. Where do people go these days for information, do they get a bus or drive into town, where they can't park, or do they go on-line. That's a tricky one!

3. How many other mid sized championship clubs have shops in their town centres? Not many, I would guess. They are all at their grounds.

4. Retail is f**ked anyway.

How does having a tiny underused shop enhance the profile of the club? Coming 4th in the championship and being on tv is what attracts fans, not whether or not we have a city centre shop.

You really do post the most amazing drivel, just because of your irrational hatred of PB and the new regime.

If you go to Madrid or Barcelona, the presence of Real or Barcelona FC is everywhere. Admittedly, it's slightly ludicrous to make a direct comparison between Brighton and Real, but the point is - the football club is a major part of the city's culture.

Brighton is a go-to city for people from all over the UK, Europe and the world - tourists and overseas students. We have a certain captive audience (locals mostly) who would use the Amex, but it's also very important for showing civic pride, marketing and prominence to have a high profile establishment in the city centre, especially when the club itself is in a place that people wouldn't ordinarily go to.

New business never hurts.

 

[Return of the Rev]

If you go to Madrid or Barcelona, the presence of Real or Barcelona FC is everywhere. Admittedly, it's slightly ludicrous to make a direct comparison between Brighton and Real, but the point is - the football club is a major part of the city's culture.

Brighton is a go-to city for people from all over the UK, Europe and the world - tourists and overseas students. We have a certain captive audience (locals mostly) who would use the Amex, but it's also very important for showing civic pride, marketing and prominence to have a high profile establishment in the city centre, especially when the club itself is in a place that people wouldn't ordinarily go to.

New business never hurts.

Will sporting chance be the face of the Albion in the city?
Looks like the getting together with sussex cricket will pay dividends

 

[8ace]

No, but merchandise was available from AA Baker, David Rose, the one in Duke Street whose name evades me, etc.

Wisdens

 

[The Large One]

Wisdens

Yup, Wisdens. Indeed.

 

[Sergei's Celebration]

Will sporting chance be the face of the Albion in the city?
Looks like the getting together with sussex cricket will pay dividends

You could be onto something there Rev, a mega store of Sussex cricket, Sporting Chance, Albion merchandise. Now that would be...er...mega.

 

[HAILSHAM SEAGULL]

That's not honesty, that's accusing a fellow Albion fan of being cynical about a CEO who seems to be coming in and ****ing up our football club so by the end of it he can boast that he cut expenses on his C.V.

I do suspect that the Gus sacking had something to do with Barber & I will get flamed for having this suspicion, but oh well.

No you wont , everyone knows your a boring pillock that was so far up Gus's arse your eyes are brown

 

[The Oldman]

Norwich have 2 shops in the city both in shopping malls. They always seem to have loads of customers. That may be the difference compared to Queens Road. Malls are full of shoppers. Not so Queens Road.