First thing, thank you to all the regular forum posters, you are all very entertaining in your own way. I read posts but rarely actually post or respond to them since the old Cheerleader on Howard Stern days!!
I am heading out to Saskatchewan tomorrow and need to buy some ticat stuff for some Rider fans. I am a bit out of the loop, is the little place at Lime Ridge still have ticat items to buy?? If not there, where is the best place to go???
This is actually the worse time to be TiCat stuff shopping as the store at Centre Mall is between seasons. Sports Obsession in Lime Ridge or Burlington may still have stuff, but the relationship between them and the team has diminished significantly. The Jackson Square store closed up thankfully as TiCat shoppers no longer need to pack heat in order to purchase apparel safely. The 2007 stuff should be available in the next couple of weeks. Tell your flat land CFL fans to browse on-line and purchase there or place an order with you for your next visit.
....isn't it funny how you can walk in to a store at any time of the year and buy NFL, MLB or NHL merchandise anywhere yet in the City of Hamilton you can't get much Ticat stuff? Sure they are in "retail space transition" BUT,
Good business / Smart business would be to open a small yet managable Kiosk at Limeridge Mall and somewhere else in Hamilton to sell the stuff.
Low cost and Low overhead....NICE eh!
A kiosk is perfect as you only need to lease it for a minimal time and you overhead is minimal.........but hey, what do I know?
I do know the Ticat Org missed another profitable business opportunity.
:cowboy:
Bob, Lets discuss some Marketing plans over lunch one day.
I thought the team was planning to put retail space in the new office downtown. That will replace the Jackson Square store, though it is odd that one closed so long before the other opened. The Hall of Fame has the odd item, though.
An aside: was in Scotland last spring and wanted to buy a jersey for the local professional soccer team (whose colours happen to be black and gold stripes.) Not a single store in town had their gear, including one large sport shop on the high street. This year they won their division championship, and the supporters' club is selling t-shirts to celebrate. Maybe the lack of Ticat memorabilia is is a sales opportunity for the forbidden website.
Good business / Smart business would be to open a small yet managable Kiosk at Limeridge Mall and somewhere else in Hamilton to sell the stuff.
Low cost and Low overhead....NICE eh!
A kiosk is perfect as you only need to lease it for a minimal time and you overhead is minimal.........but hey, what do I know?
When talking to the person at Centre Mall they said they didnt have any merchandise to sell because Reebok doesnt release it until later this month and Sports Obsession owned all the old stuff anyways. So really even if the Cats wanted to have a kiosk they wont have anything to sell anyways.
Cats fans are lucky compared to Argo fans. It's almost impossible to buy anything Argo away from the stadium itself. True story--My wife ordered an Argo sweatshirt for me on-line a couple of years ago. It was mailed from Wisconsin!!!
You'd think the CFL could get its stuff into the chains like Canadian Tire, Zellers, Walmart, etc. This lack of marketing is very short-sighted.
I think that merchandising has to follow the TV audience, and that has taken time to rebuild. The league still does not get constant media coverage like the NHL does. Until retailers see a general interest in football, they won’t dedicate floor space to the goods. Even then, I doubt any retailer will carry the variety of items that the teams’ own stores have.
One suggestion for kids: trading cards. Loved them as a kid, still collect them now. Few better ways to learn about the players.
…regardless of “what the person of the mall said”, you can get ANY CFL logo’d item from the right channels…you just need to know how “the system” works.
I’ve used CFL distributors before and they are very easy to work with and can get you anything you want…not everthing goes through Reebock.