shop and ticket office to go

[TSTtiger]

just heard shop and ticket office being shut down as of next monday.more cuts by looks of it

[Johnboy]

just heard shop and ticket office being shut down as of next monday.more cuts by looks of it

Very sad if true....

Always a friendly, helpful bunch in there.

[BornCaley]

Great Idea ICT, why not get rid of the team and the stadium at the same time..

oh note the sarcasm

[Kylef]

Aw what! I love the ladies in the shop, always up for a blether. Couldnt meet nicer folk!

How will we then get our hands on merchandise? someones got to do it! is this a definite?

[Georgeios]

really bad news.. they will prob move to that Zoo place, its pi5h soleless sales in there!!! real shame, lets start a SAVE THE SHOP if its true!!!

[Scotty]

How will we then get our hands on merchandise? someones got to do it! is this a definite?

Online sales via the website or through the front office window at the stadium probably

really bad news.. they will prob move to that Zoo place, its pi5h soleless sales in there!!! real shame, lets start a SAVE THE SHOP if its true!!!

dont think that link-up has existed for quite some time - see back issues of BB for confirmation.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Why not hire out the car park for a weekly Car Boot sale and put the club stall rite at the front !! But surely there has to be an alternative ?

[Georgeios]

That'll be why when i went to town the other sunday with the lad to see if i could get a 6mth to one year top the guy looked at me funny and said nah... we dont the them... little ****** could have said we dont do any ICT stuff now....

[caley100]

Better still... why not sell Mike Smith and keep the shop and the staff?

[MissICT]

really bad news.. they will prob move to that Zoo place, its pi5h soleless sales in there!!! real shame, lets start a SAVE THE SHOP if its true!!!

I would love to start a SAVE THE SHOP campaign but I don't think it would work

I will miss the crack you get in the shop

I also love to browse the shop

This will go against the club!!

[DornochJAGGIE]

This makes no sense at all, why are they closing the shop? Surely they cant be losing money by keeping it open. Its always packed on a match day!

[stevico1]

Failing to get my head round the reasoning behind this, do the club think we have a chance of coming back up or are they downsizing for the long term.

[Yngwie]

I suppose this was inevitable, but it's sad all the same, especially for the staff affected.

The service I received from them over the years was superb. Phone up for tickets and they would arrive in the post the next day, every time.

It's probably the right decision though, it can't be viable to operate that sort of set-up any more. If things pick up it can always be brought back.

[stevico1]

I suppose this was inevitable, but it's sad all the same, especially for the staff affected.

The service I received from them over the years was superb. Phone up for tickets and they would arrive in the post the next day, every time.

It's probably the right decision though, it can't be viable to operate that sort of set-up any more. If things pick up it can always be brought back.

I am surprised that we dont sell enough merchandise to support a portakabin with a few members of staff

[DornochJAGGIE]

I really hope that this is a just a rumour. Where are we going to buy football tops, tickets, ect..?

[caleyrule]

This is true, i was in the shop yesterday and was speaking to the ladies and they confirmed this but the staff are taking ICT to a unfair dissmisal case to court so even more bad news

[MissICT]

even more bad news:(

lets hope that saturday will bring us some better news :)

[WYNESS101]

Shocking :) There wasnt alot of stuff in the club shop and now if there back to selling it behide the reception they'll be nothing to buy apart from Home and Away kits.

How many people work in the shop? I've only seen 3 ladies working in there

[WYNESS101]

Wonder if the shop will be moved into that room next to reception where the press go for interviews :)

[Pele_Is_God]

I wonder what Smith's salary is like.. hmm. No wonder the staff are pissed off I would be too.... :)

[YNE55]

I wonder what Smith's salary is like.. hmm. No wonder the staff are pissed off I would be too.... :)

The shop has got to be more viable and give a better return than Mike Smith surely even if only on matchdays and part time hours. I think there are other more obvious cost cutting measures that dont affect the future growth of the club. We too were looking for a top for a 3 year old and were told they were not being ordered in. how does this help the future fans????? The staff were really nice, always pleasant and promised they would see what they could do...not much now by the look of things. You can buy a portakabin and employ 3 part time staff for a fraction of certain people's wages who don't seem to understand how to support the growth of the club. What now for the young fans....any old firm top, Ross County, Aberdeen, or any other distant team that sell small sizes??....ARE THEY TRYING TO DRIVE THE FANS AWAY?

We have to keep the shop and merchandise going to continue the growth of the club among the younger fans. Get rid of whoever decided this and get someone in who understands the basics of marketing.

[vinnie87]

This is bad news yes but it's a sign of the times. We survived without a proper shop before and will again. We are in the first division so there was always going to be cost cutting. And with now what looks like a big squad for a first division club surely it is better to have no shop and a squad that has different options throughout and a better chance of winning the title than a shop and a smaller squad? The shop was always dead during the week, when I was ever there anyway. Being busy for an hour every second Saturday aint going to cover the costs for the two midweeks in between.

Before anyone says anything about Mike Smith and that his wages could cover the cost, I have never met him or know a lot about what he does at the club so cannot make that judgment.

Surely the long term future of the club as a whole and the team on the park is more important than the short term future of the shop. If this money saved goes towards winning the league then I'm sure there will be a shop next year.

[Johnboy]

This is bad news yes but it's a sign of the times. We survived without a proper shop before and will again. We are in the first division so there was always going to be cost cutting. And with now what looks like a big squad for a first division club surely it is better to have no shop and a squad that has different options throughout and a better chance of winning the title than a shop and a smaller squad? The shop was always dead during the week, when I was ever there anyway. Being busy for an hour every second Saturday aint going to cover the costs for the two midweeks in between.

Before anyone says anything about Mike Smith and that his wages could cover the cost, I have never met him or know a lot about what he does at the club so cannot make that judgment.

Surely the long term future of the club as a whole and the team on the park is more important than the short term future of the shop. If this money saved goes towards winning the league then I'm sure there will be a shop next year.

Couldn't it have been kept open on a part-time basis?

[The Fly]

(wearing Mod hat) Please avoid detail of any possible tribunal proceedings pending, as with previous legal issues, and our house rules about not discussing individual club employee situations also apply.

(Mod hat off) It's a shame, but I guess this puts us back to the situation before the SPL, where Ian Broadfoot and others would be on matchday shop duty.

[Proctor]

This is embarrasing, even Fort William have a club shop. The helpful ladies in the shop were part of the friendly atmosphere of the club. This has to be one of the most stupid ideas the club has had.