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Update from the chairman


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I will start by welcoming transparency from the Chairman & hope that his media manager helps the (what has been severely lacking for many years) communications between club & fans.

However!!! By all means maximise potential revenue streams,   but, really??? Even if we had a "coffee shop" on High St/ Moss St / Gilmour St - How much profit would it make that has an impact on an aspiring senior football Club?

Have we hit such a low that our chances of silverware / regaining SPL status depends on 100 more cappuccinos a week from a back st industrial estate??  

 

 

 

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Each little bit of revenue adds to where GS wants to be in terms of annual turnover. The coffee shop Is a great idea as studick came up with it. If it's a failure the new board can ignore everything else he says.
I know that currently Morton are creating new roles and increasing overheads with a few new roles based upon Return on investment. A new dedicated media manager in this day in age is a first major milestone under our new leadership. Well done.

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8 minutes ago, Richie P said:

Each little bit of revenue adds to where GS wants to be in terms of annual turnover. The coffee shop Is a great idea as studick came up with it. If it's a failure the new board can ignore everything else he says.
I know that currently Morton are creating new roles and increasing overheads with a few new roles based upon Return on investment. A new dedicated media manager in this day in age is a first major milestone under our new leadership. Well done.

Erm I'm not someone who steals someone elses ideas and takes the credit for my own. If you look back I think you will find that actually the person who first mooted the idea was Lord Pityme as one of a raft of suggestions as to how the 1877 club could be better utilised. I agreed with him, backed him, and when I was pressed by Div on the subject as to where the footfall would come from I gave a couple of examples which Div and others roundly ridiculed. FWIW I still think Lord Pityme was correct. I believe the coffee shop will turn a profit. 

35 minutes ago, thepaisleypanda said:

I will start by welcoming transparency from the Chairman & hope that his media manager helps the (what has been severely lacking for many years) communications between club & fans.

However!!! By all means maximise potential revenue streams,   but, really??? Even if we had a "coffee shop" on High St/ Moss St / Gilmour St - How much profit would it make that has an impact on an aspiring senior football Club?

Have we hit such a low that our chances of silverware / regaining SPL status depends on 100 more cappuccinos a week from a back st industrial estate??  

I think the low point came when for years the previous board sat around doing nothing at all to generate additional income around the stadium. Everything was seen as a risk too great to take and as a result we ended up with a situation where Gilmour, Campbell and McAusland sat in a room telling us that if "Rangers" weren't back in the top flight ASAP after going into liquidation St Mirren would have to make redundancies and the club would probably land up in administration. 

From watching the video on BBC Alba last night and from reading Gordon Scott's update today I'd take the coffee shop idea as just one of many that are designed to boost the clubs annual turnover and to generate more revenue. Lets say the coffee shop sees the club hiring two new members of staff and it generates around £10k profit is that not worth it to you? It's lots of little changes that when put together will deliver a better football club. Waiting for a generous benefactor to plough £Millions into the club got the last board nowhere. It's action that will get results. 

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3 hours ago, Stuart Dickson said:

Erm I'm not someone who steals someone elses ideas and takes the credit for my own. If you look back I think you will find that actually the person who first mooted the idea was Lord Pityme as one of a raft of suggestions as to how the 1877 club could be better utilised. I agreed with him, backed him, and when I was pressed by Div on the subject as to where the footfall would come from I gave a couple of examples which Div and others roundly ridiculed. FWIW I still think Lord Pityme was correct. I believe the coffee shop will turn a profit. 

I think the low point came when for years the previous board sat around doing nothing at all to generate additional income around the stadium. Everything was seen as a risk too great to take and as a result we ended up with a situation where Gilmour, Campbell and McAusland sat in a room telling us that if "Rangers" weren't back in the top flight ASAP after going into liquidation St Mirren would have to make redundancies and the club would probably land up in administration. 

From watching the video on BBC Alba last night and from reading Gordon Scott's update today I'd take the coffee shop idea as just one of many that are designed to boost the clubs annual turnover and to generate more revenue. Lets say the coffee shop sees the club hiring two new members of staff and it generates around £10k profit is that not worth it to you? It's lots of little changes that when put together will deliver a better football club. Waiting for a generous benefactor to plough £Millions into the club got the last board nowhere. It's action that will get results. 

It is so nice to see you falling in love with the club you have always supported once again Stuart.

You are indeed correct.

The club can either cut costs to match income... ... or maximise income to meet aspirations.

Initially, Gilmour and co were absolutely correct in reigning in excess expenditure... but that went too far and became a mindset that would not allow any growth despite the base for a healthy business model being in place.

I believe GLS has the business acumen to take us a step forward, and look forward to your inevitable "I told you so's" as the club takes strides forward.

Welcome home!

 

 

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Given the scale of the Caledonia Street stand it was easy to see how there was space in it to house a gym... surely none of the stands at dinky dome are suitable, in that there are the hot foot stands and toilets and not much room for anything else?


Your maybe right although I'm not sure how much unused space there is still in the main stand? Livingston have a separate facility housed in the corner( just next to the away stand ) so perhaps this is something that could be incorporated into the office block that was being discussed ?
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11 hours ago, div said:

 


I think if it was going to happen and be successful it would need to be a concession run by people already in the business.

The club couldn't surely consider opening a coffee shop and running it themselves, that would be mental??

The Saporito boys would be my first port of call if I was Gordon!

 

Sure i heard getting the skinny from the Saparito guys somewhere else too..?

jings where do people get these great ideas? Its almost as if the club are listening to retailers....!

on a different point, Dunfermline fan bars rammed on Saturday even though it was a low crowd and game on Alba. To their credit the run it First come, first served no mental membership model to guarantee low turn out and restricted access. K.I.S.S.

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32 minutes ago, elvis said:

Should we not be thinking about getting in a proper commercial manager I know Campbell Kennedy does it but that's not really his forte just think we should be looking to get someone who can take the commercial side to another level.

What like someone who knows businesss and retail?

we can only hope....

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1 minute ago, Lord Pityme said:

Sure i heard getting the skinny from the Saparito guys somewhere else too..?

jings where do people get these great ideas? Its almost as if the club are listening to retailers....!

on a different point, Dunfermline fan bars rammed on Saturday even though it was a low crowd and game on Alba. To their credit the run it First come, first served no mental membership model to guarantee low turn out and restricted access. K.I.S.S.

I hope you are standing for election to the club board fella, you seem to be an expert on absolutely everything.

I think that could be a really valuable asset to the football club. You'll get my vote anyway!

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11 hours ago, div said:

 



The club couldn't surely consider opening a coffee shop and running it themselves, that would be mental??
 

You just get a manager who has some experience Div - not such a big deal.

An ex-girlfriend of mine was approached many years ago about opening a wee coffee shop in Hillington for the workers of an industrial unit but also open it up to the public as they were having a public frontage to the facility. Within no time it was making a good regular profit as there was no other facility in the area. And I cannot think of any other coffee shop that is close to the stadium. Worth a try and I assume it will be free and not cost £3/£6 for entry :)

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1 minute ago, Sonny said:

You just get a manager who has some experience Div - not such a big deal.

An ex-girlfriend of mine was approached many years ago about opening a wee coffee shop in Hillington for the workers of an industrial unit but also open it up to the public as they were having a public frontage to the facility. Within no time it was making a good regular profit as there was no other facility in the area. And I cannot think of any other coffee shop that is close to the stadium. Worth a try and I assume it will be free and not cost £3/£6 for entry :)

Yeah fair enough mate. I'm not by any means an expert in retail. If the club think it's a good idea then as a St.Mirren supporter I would try and use it wherever possible.

My opinion is that it's in the wrong location to be successful but I'll be very happy to be proved completely wrong!

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I don't think the fitness facilities at Love St made much for the club at all, if they were to do that then Ralston would be the place to invest.  ETA Whops, seems it was a winner, but I'm not sure the location works at the current ground for that.

Hopefully the media manager will take up Brian Caldwell's idea to invest in motorway signage and a branding of the club as being the premier conference and meetings venue on the airport campus-that would need an extension of the hospitality suite as part of the office facility.  The airport is the key to ongoing financial success for SMFC.

 

Sorry to all of the founder members, but the 1877 club needs to be open to all for most evenings per week

 

Someone mentioned the Saporrito owners as potential partners, I don't know them but my impression is that they are young and growing their business very quickly.  That has been seen and done in the pub trade in Paisley before, which is a very volatile trade indeed these days, so let's just see if there is any lasting success in their venture before tying up with them.  When you open up to the pub trade you open up to all of the people who "associate" themselves with it, which in many (not all) cases could be a big mistake

Edited by beyond our ken
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1 minute ago, beyond our ken said:

Sorry to all of the founder members, but the 1877 club needs to be open to all for most evenings per week

This is a recurring theme when discussing the 1877 club and it seems to be a wide held misunderstanding.

The 1877 bar is owned and operated by the football club. It is let out to the 1877 "club" on matchdays.

That is purely a letting arrangement. The founder members of the 1877 club have nothing at all to do with the building outside of matchdays.

The building is already used during the week at various times and I would completely agree that it should be used as much as possible!

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4 hours ago, BuddieinEK said:

It is so nice to see you falling in love with the club you have always supported once again Stuart.

You are indeed correct.

The club can either cut costs to match income... ... or maximise income to meet aspirations.

Initially, Gilmour and co were absolutely correct in reigning in excess expenditure... but that went too far and became a mindset that would not allow any growth despite the base for a healthy business model being in place.

I believe GLS has the business acumen to take us a step forward, and look forward to your inevitable "I told you so's" as the club takes strides forward.

Welcome home!

 

 

When he said he watched the game against the Pars twice I thought to myself, now that is a real saint fan :thumbs2   As for ideas, how about a bookie in the ground. I very rarely bet but have seen bookies in other grounds :huh:

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2 minutes ago, div said:

This is a recurring theme when discussing the 1877 club and it seems to be a wide held misunderstanding.

The 1877 bar is owned and operated by the football club. It is let out to the 1877 "club" on matchdays.

That is purely a letting arrangement. The founder members of the 1877 club have nothing at all to do with the building outside of matchdays.

The building is already used during the week at various times and I would completely agree that it should be used as much as possible!

Misinterpreting what I am saying there, possibly I could have worded it better.

 

Specifically, we need this to be open access on match days

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Just now, beyond our ken said:

Misinterpreting what I am saying there, possibly I could have worded it better.

Specifically, we need this to be open access on match days

Fair enough. I think once the building costs have been repaid that may well happen but until then I don't think the club are going to want to take the debt on themselves.

Before one person sets foot inside the bar right now it still brings in £2K a month through membership fees. That fixed income is repaying the building costs.

If the whole scheme was abandoned today then the bar would need to make £2K profit a month, potentially in two matchdays, over and above what it takes at the bar at the moment.

I don't disagree that the entrance model is flawed but you can see why it is the way it is when you look at the financials.

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I don't think the fitness facilities at Love St made much for the club at all, if they were to do that then Ralston would be the place to invest.  ETA Whops, seems it was a winner, but I'm not sure the location works at the current ground for that.

Hopefully the media manager will take up Brian Caldwell's idea to invest in motorway signage and a branding of the club as being the premier conference and meetings venue on the airport campus-that would need an extension of the hospitality suite as part of the office facility.  The airport is the key to ongoing financial success for SMFC.

 

Sorry to all of the founder members, but the 1877 club needs to be open to all for most evenings per week

 

Someone mentioned the Saporrito owners as potential partners, I don't know them but my impression is that they are young and growing their business very quickly.  That has been seen and done in the pub trade in Paisley before, which is a very volatile trade indeed these days, so let's just see if there is any lasting success in their venture before tying up with them.  When you open up to the pub trade you open up to all of the people who "associate" themselves with it, which in many (not all) cases could be a big mistake

The fitness facilities at love street did in fact bring in good revenue for the club it's a very profitable business , if you have gym members paying a fixed amount each month that's guaranteed extra income for the club , also if you have a studio within the gym you can also offer fitness classes bringing in extra revenue , I would imagine gym members should also bring in extra revenue for an on site cafe ( skinny latte's of course :-)

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24 minutes ago, div said:

I hope you are standing for election to the club board fella, you seem to be an expert on absolutely everything.

I think that could be a really valuable asset to the football club. You'll get my vote anyway!

Poor form!

what our club needs now is people coming together, putting forward reasonable, considered and realistic ideas that will help raise revenue, interest and involvement. And where possible be able to demonstrate how the ideas work.

i.e. Someone whose specialism is web design and social media utilisation, making the club's presence relevant, accesible and able to build revenue streams fit for today and tomorrow. I applaud your work in that regard, it is something that is sorely needed.

what I find strange is why you want to rubbish and demean others who want to help the club move forward? I offered to meet over a beer to simply find common ground. Although you didnt take it up the offer is still there as i believe the club needs people who have skills, knowledge, ideas and a proven track record.

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6 minutes ago, Lord Pityme said:

what I find strange is why you want to rubbish and demean others who want to help the club move forward? I offered to meet over a beer to simply find common ground. Although you didnt take it up the offer is still there as i believe the club needs people who have skills, knowledge, ideas and a proven track record.

I'm surprised you've taken it that way. I genuinley think you have a lot to offer.

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6 minutes ago, Lord Pityme said:

what I find strange is why you want to rubbish and demean others who want to help the club move forward? I offered to meet over a beer to simply find common ground. Although you didnt take it up the offer is still there as i believe the club needs people who have skills, knowledge, ideas and a proven track record.

I'm surprised you've taken it that way. I genuinley think you have a lot to offer.

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Have a wee look round today's popular Retail, Hospitality, Leisure and Entertainment businesses.

the one thing many have in common is 'Destination' customers. People who want to access all these businesses in one place, Braehead being a prime example. There is a golden opportunity to do the same at the 2021, we already have Retail, Hospitality, Leisure and (up for debate) Entertainment units on site.

its just that they dont share a common aim and draw, and are not being utilised/sweated to their potential. With an airport, motorway, station, housing estate and an ever increasing traffic movement profile outside the front door it is actually a great development opportunity, where there may even be a sports village to boot!

put the coffee shop in with the club shop/ticket office and start linking things to make it easier for people to choose to visit and spend. Small step, big potential.

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11 hours ago, gazmc83 said:

Yep good point if there's going to be offices within the stadium then coffee shop perhaps underneath the offices would make perfect sense , doing take aways would also make sense given the number of industrial estates nearby I'm positive it would be a profitable venture

I'm sure a lot of fans would utilise on match day aswell , I know personally as I travel through from the east I would much rather give my money to St. Mirren than a another cafe/restaurant in the city centre

Another idea ( they have this inside one of the stand in Livingston ) is incorporating a gym /fitness centre into one of the stands perhaps with a discounted membership rate for supporters ? In sure a lot of fans and non fans would take this up

Match  Day

Coffee Shop

I travel from Perthshire to games and presently stop off for lunch at Cumbernaul. Were there lunch/coffee facilities at the ground, then I would use them.

Parking

Make it possible to book your space ahead of arrival via your phone etc. I have, like others found it harder to be admitted  to the car park.

Now - with two bad hips. This does not make it easy even if I ignore the No Parking signs.

Tannoy System

Whilst I find it adequate (I now sit in the West Stand) many seem to feel it needs attention.

Non Match Days

Having visited Falkirk and St Jonhnstone stadiums away from match days I have been able to have a coffee, snack or lunch there. Decent quality, decent prices, well used.

This could mean that the existing guest lounge could be provide these on non-match days.

Looking at a community model?

Look  no further than the very popular Tee Room (Get it?) at Dunning Course.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g7255247-d10227855-Reviews-The_Tee_Room-Dunning_Perth_and_Kinross_Scotland.html

Fitness Centre

I guess there is one at Ralston.

Maybe this could be made available to the public.

 

 

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