SO YOU WANT A NEW NFL SHOP IN DUBLIN??

touchdown

Hi guys and girls,

I am new to this so please stick with me .

After some long deliberation I am in the process of opening a proper NFL shop here in Dublin.

The plan is to be open before x-mas 2008.

There has been strong liason wth the IAFL ( Irish American Football League) and REEBOK INT. who, as you might know, are the official shirt suppliers to the NFL.

This is not a gimmick post and I have looked at various locations for the shop.

All merchandise (shirts, balls, caps etc) will be original and no copies or cheap imports from China.

Prices will be around 60/70 Euro per shirt when bought in the shop.

I am aware that you can buy jerseys online from the USA but do not forget you will have to pay VAT and import duty on everything bought outside EUROPE.

In any case I am very interested to know how many of you are looking to buy jerseys or other items and how serious you guys are.

You can mail me personally with any comments on NFL@coinandsurf.com

Again remember investing in any shop will cost a lot of money and is only worth it if real FANS (that means YOU) will actually be buying jerseys, caps etc.

Anyway let me know sooner rather then later.

Names of Team jerseys you would like to see in the shop ad any other items.
There will be sufficient stock in te shop and any other items not in stock won't take long to order (1 week)

If you fans really want to see a dedicated NFL shop in Dublin (Ireland) then it is also up to you guys and girls to support this type of venture
This is the only way for me to make it worth investing in this as one poster said before.
I do not want to order and then end up with several hundred jerseys that no one wants.

In case of lack of demand any balls I order I can paint and sell as rugby balls (lol)

Arthur Daley

Worth branching out into other US sports basketball gear, baseball etc.

We've never had a proper shop in Ireland to sell this.

touchdown

This might be an option.
In case if tere is not enough demand for NFL alone we might combine this with baseball, basketball.
But purely american sports that are hard to come by in Ireland.

And even if successfull we might still offer baseball and basketball jerseys.
Again this is all down to demand from the public.

Keep the suggstions "and demands" coming.
As this shop venture is for "YOU" the fans as without it it simply won't be a success.

bruschi

Arthur Daley wrote: »

Worth branching out into other US sports basketball gear, baseball etc.

We've never had a proper shop in Ireland to sell this.

there was a shop in George St arcade, just on the right as you walked to the grafton st side of it. I bought one of my Patriots jerseys there, and they had baseball stuff and Ice hockey too AFAIK. Think it closed up around 2004.

Hazys

Hope the shop goes well for you.

Would you sell other NFL related things like DVDs from NFL Films?

I don't know if this is feasible as all NFL Films dvds might only be region 1. Do you have any info on this? Thanks

Dodge

Good luck with the shop. Not sure there's enough demand for it but if you did internet/mail order some UK buyers might be more interested in ordering from Ireland rather than US

touchdown

Thanks for all the input guys.

The shop is definately on the carts.
Were about is stil to be decided but will be in Dublin and easy to get to.

Mail order will definitely be available in Ireland and also the UK.

We do not expect someone in Galway to travel all the way to Dublin for a single shirt.

But then again. I travel all the way to Galway from Dublin for some special item (SHOES) I can not get at all in Dublin. (strange but very true!)

Again we will be launching our own website soon and on there you cna simply request the kind of Jerseys and items you want to see in te shop and order etc.

bruschi

the dvd option is a good idea. I wanted to get an NFL films dvd of the Patriots first superbowl win which had highlights of the whole season, but it was only available in region 1, and I wasnt bothered paying the shipping and vat on something which I wouldnt have got value out of. More multi region DVD players now alright, so mightnt be as much of an issue.

Dodge

Oha nd if you're opening before Cristmas have a sock of "stocking fillers" like key rings, mini-helmets, maybe even bobble heads

spillit67

Good idea, i'll definately check it out when it opens.

Y2J_MUFC

I'd def like to check it out next time I'm in Dublin, I'd like to get Packets & Giants jerseys.

It would probably be a good idea if you did NFL, NHL, MLB, MLS, NBA and Wrestling stuff (i.e: All American sports). All in one is a bigger draw than just one alone. There have been some purely wrestling only shops that seem to do well.

You could put a sign up at least, and advertise that you'll take orders for any American sports which would def help

Good luck!

raddo

I would love to see a store with all of the major american sports catered for as would most people on this forum, personally Dolphins stuff would be great!!

But looking at the idea generally, I don't know if there would be sufficient interest within the general Irish public to warrant a store in Dublin.
A brilliant first step would be the establishment of a proper website for viewing and purchasing of all goods including a reasonable p&p price to Irish locations. Then you could gauge what interest is out there and follow on with the store.

Spongey1975

Personally speaking i cant see myself visiting the store as i'm based in Sligo but would definitely buy online. Need to get myself a Bears shirt. An online store could keep costs down until you could gauge the interest in a proper store.

kensutz

Good idea and go for it. Get some Titans stuff in the shop and also stock up a few MLS jerseys. I'm looking for a San Jose Earthquakes one

RichTea

Good on ya fella! Sounds like a great idea. Supplying merchandise of other American sports would be useful to you I'd say maybe.

Be sure to get some Packers' jerseys in, they're quite well followed round these parts.

Sea Devils

Brilliant idea. Next time when I'm up in Dublin I'll defintely check it out should it open:).

Would you consider doing College merchandise as well or would you just leave it at the pros?

philon

Great Idea....I'd be in 1st week for Chicago & Mizzou shirts

touchdown

Thank you very much for all the input and replies so far.
We will do our very best to offer all you NFL fans all you need.

In the mean time we are working at launching the website any time soon.

Keep the input coming and while we are on the subject of a website.

Any ideas for a name would be welcome.

names like touchdown.com are already taken and you can cross check any name on www.whois.net

Americansports.com is also taken etc.

Any cool name ideas welcome.

mikemac

Best of luck with the venture

And definitly consider stocking DVD's. Realy the only option is mail-order at the minute which is fine but you'll sell loads as people are browsing the store.
Thought there is the whole Region 1/2 issue

Baseball and basketball gear would be good too.

jhegarty

touchdown.ie is free....

touchdown

Thank guys for all the input.

The initial idea was just for NFL but we will supply any other USA sport for which there is a demand.

We will also try to source individual requests for hard to get items.

brennaldo

this is great mate, myself (like many many others on this) have been desperate to get a jersey. i think i speak for everyone when i say "your a ledgend". whenever you have the shops location or the webpage setup just let us all know, i cant wait to see the shop

moneyman

Spongey1975 wrote: »

Personally speaking i cant see myself visiting the store as i'm based in Sligo but would definitely buy online. Need to get myself a Bears shirt. An online store could keep costs down until you could gauge the interest in a proper store.

You mean to say I'm not the only Bears fan in the country?! Thought I was the only one! How about that loss to Falcons, never been more frustrated in my life. To go from such a high to such a low in a few seconds, devastated.


OP, great idea. I'd definitely make the trip to your store next time I'm in Dublin, even more so if you stocked NBA gear. Bears jerseys can't be gotten over here AFAIK, which is a shame since Chicago is a big market. Was planning on ordering one over the internet (want a Forte jersey), but might wait it out and give you my support if you do open. If you decide to get basketball gear in, make sure you get some Kings jerseys! Don't just stick to the mainstream teams (Fakers, Celtics etc.) as they can be gotten in most sports stores.

Davo D

It's a good idea and I hope it works out for you.

Will you be doing a range of caps and winter/woolly hats for each team? They're always popular.

onesocks

Couple of things
- If this happens get in a Jaguars jersey please!
- It's not an official site but iafs.co.uk is a forum for the Irish league with all teams represented on it. It might be worth getting on there as I am sure you will get more interest, considering the majority of the posters are players in Ireland.
- Beany hats would be a great idea for Christmas.
- College jerseys would sell well online within Ireland.
- Would there be a chance to sell equipment?
- Have you talked to the Irish teams, they may be interested in having some of their own merchandise sold from within your shop.

Facelessman

If you stocked US magazines that were not weeks behind the issue date then you would bring customers into the store every week who might purchase other items.

Specifically I am thinking ESPN the Magazine and Sports Illustrated...

raven136

agree with everything posted already and have to say all american sports wear would be great.
Dont just limited it to jerseys,think of the basketball baggy bottoms and all the kids wearing those yankee tracksuits.
Hope it works out for you.

Just make sure you have decent sizes for the "bigger" guys out there.Its hard to watch 9 hours of nfl and not bloat up:D

LuckyLloyd

Just saw this. Assuming you stocked the larger sizes and some college football (you would be wise to stock Notre Dame stuff imo) merchandise I'd personally buy a fair portion of my clothes there.

Jerseys and strips will always have a specialty appeal - but hoodies, T - Shirts, jackets and caps of various American sports can be spotted regularly in Ireland. Anytime I'm over in the States I tend to load up on T - Shirts and hoodies because as a larger person I can get comfortable sizes and the price you pay is reasonable when you consider the quality of the merchandise across the sports. If you get a reputation as a place people can go to get good quality sports / casual clothing that has a different slant to the Champion Sports / lifestyle / JB Sports side of things you should be sorted.

That being said, I still think that there would be an advantage if you could make yourself something of a touchstone for the small community of American sports enthusiasts in Dublin. If your shop was a place that always had some recent NFL / MLB / College sports game running on a screen in the corner; and had a notice board up with information about where people could go to watch a game at the weekend; or where to go to get involved with an Irish league American football team - and staff with some interest in pointing people in the right direction for those things / shooting the breeze about the weekend's games for a couple of minutes - you'll quickly get the word out amongst people who will automatically spend money in your store. And after that, if they get a nice jersey or hoodie who's to say their friends / family etc won't like it and ask "where did you get that?" and away you go.

Would love to see this happen. Best of luck with the difficult job of making it a reality.

de5p0i1er

I own 3 Patriots Jerseys, a Hoodie and 2 T-shirts, so I'd buy from you if you had a good selection. My advice is get a few diffrent jerseys for the big teams, e.g. Chargers Rivers, Tomlinson, Merrymen. Saints, Rivers, Bush. Patriots, Brady, Moss, Welker.
I remember a few years ago there was a load of Atlanta Falcons gear in my local Lifestyle Sports and they only had Vick Jerseys, Can't see any real fans wearing them now.

chopperbyrne

Have you considered being online only for a year or so until you know if it will be profitable or not?

If we know that there is somewhere we can get real shirts without having to pay for importing, I'm sure you'll get quite a few sales.

Unfortunately, you'll lose out on the casual walk in customers.

Bit of a Catch 22, but you won't have the overhead of leasing a good site.

Funkyzeit

Online is definitely the way forward (especially till you get a feel for demand). Remember the only running costs are the P&P ! I'm sure if you offer a competitive (ie comparable to say - ebay prices) I'll most certainly buy and word will spread..

Best of luck with your venture

Trojan

My #1 recommendation, before you do anything else, spend any money, is get on a start your own business course or talk to someone from your local enterprise board.

It's very easy to burn money at the startup phase - get some good advice before you do that.

Leslie91

Personally I don't think there is enough of a market here for a full on retail shop. I get all my stuff online. There is so much competition. Having said that I wish you the best of luck whatever u decide to do.

I used visit the shop on the top floor of the Stephens Green Shopping Centre but don't remember ever buying anything. I'm a Chargers fan and they had F all Chargers stuff. This was back when they were worse than they are today

tallaghtoutlaws

Trojan wrote: »

My #1 recommendation, before you do anything else, spend any money, is get on a start your own business course or talk to someone from your local enterprise board.

It's very easy to burn money at the startup phase - get some good advice before you do that.

How do you know he hasn't got his own business elsewhere anyway?:) Judging by his email address it seems he is doing alright with another business.

I think if he promotes himself right it will work but opening up with other American Sports will definitely help and maybe also Apparel like Under Armour and what not you just got to play it smart is all.

The problem with starting something new where the market is a tad shady is getting your name out there. Honestly none of us can comment on whether there is a market or not for this as no one has really ever tried to do this before. Some shops have sold gear but only the regular players and they have always been shops down side streets or away from the crowd.

I was going to do this 3 years ago and did a bit of market research on it and found it was 50/50 3 years ago but the NFL has come along way in this country. Advertising is going to be his main winner with a website connected to the store. Advertising on the likes of Bebo and Facebook actual real advertisement will help as there is thousands of folk on them two in Ireland who would buy all age ranges also. He also has the IAFL on his doorstep. Promoting the existance of your establishment and getting your name out there is the way to go. Im sure touchdown knows all this and I wish him all the best.

Trojan

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

How do you know he hasn't got his own business elsewhere anyway?:) Judging by his email address it seems he is doing alright with another business.

I think if he promotes himself right it will work but opening up with other American Sports will definitely help and maybe also Apparel like Under Armour and what not you just got to play it smart is all.

You're dead right, assumption on my part. I would still counsel getting some advice from Enterprise Boards or the like - they may have advisors with 20+ years retail experience (I know DCEB does).

jdivision

Stocking soft pads (knees, thigh, hip and coccyx) would be a good idea, they go missing and then you have to order a big batch from abroad in order to make it worthwhile. They don't take up much room either.

Dodge

PLenty of Irish buying tonnes of stuff in Wembley. In the tailgate Reebok store they replica jersies from most teams, caps from every team. From the Saints & Chargers they sold "Property of " t shirts and hoodies, woolie hats, choice of jersies (including throwback) and mini helmets

Just for interest...