Mrs Agro outside Carlton Shop at 1.51pm (as I write).

Sign on the door "Back in 15 minutes".


I know we are travelling bad - but to only have one staff member in the shop that she/he has to close the door so she can knick off to the "toot" or grab some lunch is ridiculous.

Especially so as to close during Lunch Period which should be the busiest part of the day.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

...someone's in trouble

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There's so much I could say...

A good example of our lack of professionalism at the moment....I'm just hoping that one day I'm going wake up from my sleep and realise that it has simply been a nightmare.....

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That's right. Gather the nector my little drones and make honey. Honey for your children.......Fools!!!

I think the whole club has a 'back in 15 minutes' sign up at the moment. You can probably buy one from the shop (when it's open)

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Between our dreams and actions lies this world

ease up! 12 mnths ago that shop didn't exist. what were it's hours of operation then?

i'm sure the one at MCL park doesn't close for lunch

Can't agree (fully) Agro.

I'm a big critic of the Carlton shop for a stack of reasons but that's certainly not one of them. I totally agree that 15 minutes is a joke. I do the same thing but never for more than two and if you can't squeeze one out in that time then you should give up and try later however the cost of running that place with two staff-members would far outweigh the benefits.

They'd have to turn over an additional $1000-1500 a week just to cover the wage and considering how little it's turning over at the moment it's just not justified.

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

This is where we fall down GWS.

All our thoughts are about cost cutting and not about growing the business.

We wont get rid of a dud coach because its going to cost us too much in a contract payout - but we dont think of the long term on-field and off-field damage being done (-6000 members = $800,000).

We wont hire an extra person to cover the busiest time of the day in a Retail Shop (say 10 till 2pm) equals 20 hours per week thats only$400 for a casual wages for a teenager that could be hired from Melbourne Uni just across the road, even if you add an extra $100 per week as on costs thats only $500 extra per week to keep the doors open at all times.

No sorry - you want to be in business you have to do it properly - our philosophy is all wrong.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

Could have been worse.

The sign could have said "Back when next win"

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Love Cricket? Love me

Maybe the sign should have said:

"gone to 'borrow' cup of Sugar from AFL Shop"

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"Who discovered we could get milk from cows, and what did he think he was doing at the time?" Billy Connolly

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Love Cricket? Love me

That being said, I believe that shop only costs us the staff wages. The building belongs to John Valbmordia, and after STA moved across the street it was empty for almost a year. I think Valbmordia just stuck us in there to a) increase our exposure in the heartland, b) fill the empty shop in his building.

Additionally, there's never any customers in there as it is, so the chances are we didn't miss any sales

Actually was there last week (pre-sale- damn!) and this week!
The young lady was very helpful and pointed out stuff ...which of course I bought...spent about $90 the first time and $160 the second...couldn't resist the bargains

Mind you the second batch is still "hidden" at home....

Not sure what the criticism is about...the shop is a good idea...it's a positive, I don't agree that it looks shabby and I don't think it should have have a heap of staff sitting around scratching themselves when it quite obviously will not be busy..

BUT..

-it is in our "heartland"
- the staff are actually interested in the club, (so if you say, gee I hope we play well against XXX they don't say...is that who we play this week?)
- anytime I have a coffee in Lygon street (not often enough), I will have gone past a few Blues logos!

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“Every single element of the Club has to be the best in the league, meticulously and methodically, and only by doing this will we be elite and challenge for number 17.”
Greg Lee

Already squirreling away a few shekels for the annual spend up at the Carlton Shop immediately following the Junior Members clinic in the school hols!

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"Who discovered we could get milk from cows, and what did he think he was doing at the time?" Billy Connolly

Sorry Agro but an extra $500 in costs is not an extra $500 of extra turnover to cover it.

It's an extra $500 in NET PROFIT you need to cover it.

That's $1000 plus in turnover just so you can hope that your staff member is taking a dump between 10am and 2pm. What if he/she needs to take one at 2:15pm?

The Carlton shop is a niche business. It's never going to take on the big retailers because its market is essentially a captive one - Carlton supporters and members. Can it serve them better? Absolutely. Should it do that by blowing more money on a shop that's already an unpolished turd just so your wife doesn't have to wait a few minutes? No.

The $50,000 plus of extra turnover it would need to save your wife that time would be far better spent on fitting out the shop properly and promoting it.

There are a stack of ways to be more professional but increasing your COSTS by $20-30,000 a year for a staff member who's there solely to do what one person can do when the other's having a dump...?

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

Oh - and all you tight-arsed bogans waiting for the shop to have a sale?

That $40 scarf you just bought for $10 on sale actually cost the club money. It's reduced to below cost to clear because no-one's buying it during the rest of the year.

Go and offer to buy it at full price and then tell me about how you're supporting the club.

You know who you are...

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

Every person who walks into a retail shop that walks out without buying something without being asked can I help you is a lost sale.

By only having one member of staff on hand you are losing sales.

I wasnt saying have 2 members of staff on hand all day - only an extra member of staff during the busiest time of the day say 10 till 2.

Sorry GWS I have a retail background - you need 2 people on the floor at a minimum.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

that may be true, but that still doesn't justify getting an extra person in to cover that loss.

if we had millions and were all about promoting the club then perhaps we could be a little more proactive in things like this, but on a shoe string budget, be thankful that there even is a second carlton shop.

no one denies that it wouldn't help sales and stop the shop from being closed for 15 min every so often, but it would cost the club more money to do so. and when your 7 million in debt, having a part time employee to cover the shop when the other staff member has to take a shit, is probably not high on the list of priorities.

Smartarse

Oh & I was only on my way there as I had an annual leave day & the time to do it - if I wanted a scarf I would've knitted it myself (to save cash )

Funnily enough when I got to the shop yesterday (at about 2ish) there was a back in 5 minutes sign!!

Went for a walk for about 15 & came back & it was still shut

It opened shortly after. The guy was helpful & friendly, did a good job of almost convincing me to buy a DVD actually.

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#DonTheStash

I resemble that remark!

Oops.

As for hiring an extra staff member to be at the shop, it would be an additional cost not covered by sufficient additional revenue.

The buyer behaviour of Carlton Shop customers would be that they will wait or almost certainly come back later, therefore virtually no lost revenue.

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"The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, and the young know everything." Oscar Wilde

Yeah - and I've had nothing to do with retail...

...aside from owning and running a retail company in Carlton for the last three years and being general manager of a city-based retail and manufacturing company for the 10 years before that...

Yours is bigger than mine, mine's bigger than yours...blah blah blah...

The issue is the Carlton Shop which I walk passed at least twice a day and there's no way an extra staff member can be justified in an empty shop.

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb