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Post by SY3 on Dec 1, 2010 11:05:35 GMT 1
Something which has been annoying me since the new ground opened is how long it takes to grab something to eat at half-time in the west stand. I'm not entirely sure what can be done to improve this - but surely something needs to be addressed. I can't help think that the club are losing out financially as there are plenty of people (including myself) who can't bothered to wait for ages jostling for control of your place and more often then not miss the first 3-5 mins of the second half. I wouldn't care if the food was awful - but it's actually really nice these days. Also if we go up and an extra 500-1000 people come along each week then the situation will only get worse imo.
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Post by salopianed on Dec 1, 2010 11:28:24 GMT 1
I would happily grab something to eat at HT from the buffet - however I can't be bothered to fight my way through the scrum. Therefore the club is indirectly losing money from fans Bet its different where Roland gets his cuppa
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Post by ambergambler on Dec 1, 2010 11:33:52 GMT 1
I would happily grab something to eat at HT from the buffet - however I can't be bothered to fight my way through the scrum. Therefore the club is indirectly losing money from fans Bet its different where Roland gets his cuppa It is Thanks
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Post by Amsterdammer on Dec 1, 2010 11:45:30 GMT 1
Something which has been annoying me since the new ground opened is how long it takes to grab something to eat at half-time in the west stand. I'm not entirely sure what can be done to improve this - but surely something needs to be addressed. I can't help think that the club are losing out financially as there are plenty of people (including myself) who can't bothered to wait for ages jostling for control of your place and more often then not miss the first 3-5 mins of the second half. I wouldn't care if the food was awful - but it's actually really nice these days. Also if we go up and an extra 500-1000 people come along each week then the situation will only get worse imo. Is it any different at other clubs? My experience is that there are always queues whether it is for the toilet or the buffet. Agree though that the club should do everything it can to make the process efficient, but it's an impossible task to please everyone. Here are some maths. You need to get 1500-2000 people served food and drink and take their money in 5 minutes. Let's say 30 seconds per customer (pretty quick), that would need 200 staff employed for a couple of hours each - costs around 2000-3000 quid plus taxes and red tape per game. Alternatively you could get 1000 people served in 15 minutes with 40 people. Costs now 400 quid in employment costs. Takings might be 2000-3000 quid lower but so are costs of the food/drink.
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Post by barrynic on Dec 1, 2010 11:59:36 GMT 1
Don't think the West Stand will get worse as it is very nearly full to capacity most weeks any way.
The South Stand.............now that is a very different matter.
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Post by SY3 on Dec 1, 2010 12:12:40 GMT 1
Some sensible answers - however i must admit at other grounds i have been served quicker than at STFC. I'm still yet to try the much hyped cottage pie!!!
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Post by stfcfan87 on Dec 1, 2010 12:19:32 GMT 1
Is the club actually losing money on this or is it the catering firm itself? Not sure how it works - is it a rental type agreement or do the club receive a proportion of the income?
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Post by ambergambler on Dec 1, 2010 12:27:29 GMT 1
Is the club actually losing money on this or is it the catering firm itself? Not sure how it works - is it a rental type agreement or do the club receive a proportion of the income? To be fair on the girls who work for Jennys in the family stand do a good swift job,i can remeber at the meadow having to Queue at two little windows and waiting for what seemed like an eternity for a glue pie!!!
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Post by simianus on Dec 1, 2010 12:31:31 GMT 1
Something which has been annoying me since the new ground opened is how long it takes to grab something to eat at half-time in the west stand. I'm not entirely sure what can be done to improve this - but surely something needs to be addressed. I can't help think that the club are losing out financially as there are plenty of people (including myself) who can't bothered to wait for ages jostling for control of your place and more often then not miss the first 3-5 mins of the second half. I wouldn't care if the food was awful - but it's actually really nice these days. Also if we go up and an extra 500-1000 people come along each week then the situation will only get worse imo. Is it any different at other clubs? My experience is that there are always queues whether it is for the toilet or the buffet. Agree though that the club should do everything it can to make the process efficient, but it's an impossible task to please everyone. Here are some maths. You need to get 1500-2000 people served food and drink and take their money in 5 minutes. Let's say 30 seconds per customer (pretty quick), that would need 200 staff employed for a couple of hours each - costs around 2000-3000 quid plus taxes and red tape per game. Alternatively you could get 1000 people served in 15 minutes with 40 people. Costs now 400 quid in employment costs. Takings might be 2000-3000 quid lower but so are costs of the food/drink. pretty much the same take as mine, there is no magic solution. get food before the match would be my suggestion.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2010 12:50:09 GMT 1
There is no magic solution but as with any business model there are tweaks that can be made to improve the system in place at the moment (as well as to people's own matchday routines).
I notice at Port Vale as an example they have a separate queue for alcoholic drinks to food which, in my three visits there, appears to work quite well as the queues tend to be of similar size.
An alternative is the use of vending machines - previously this couldn't happen but I have raised the suggestion again on shrewschat.
Another idea is to have a roaming drinks seller (I think they have these at the cricket - they certainly did at WC 2006 in Germany).
It's certainly worth another look at the processes in place as this is an issue which has been raised on a number of occasions by supporters on here in recent weeks.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2010 12:59:11 GMT 1
Just checked shrewsweb and have had a reply regarding vending machines and bookies:
Vending Machines
These would possibly cause a H & S issue however the main consideration is that Vending Machines would have little value considering their possible use of 23 – 25 times a season – They would also impact operationally as the need for Change/ assistance when things go wrong with the machines which is inevitable would cause us further problems.
Betting
We are currently in discussions with Coral our betting partner as to how best service this facility at the club and would hope to update everybody on this soon.
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Post by SY3 on Dec 1, 2010 13:40:43 GMT 1
Just checked shrewsweb and have had a reply regarding vending machines and bookies: Vending Machines These would possibly cause a H & S issue however the main consideration is that Vending Machines would have little value considering their possible use of 23 – 25 times a season – They would also impact operationally as the need for Change/ assistance when things go wrong with the machines which is inevitable would cause us further problems. Betting We are currently in discussions with Coral our betting partner as to how best service this facility at the club and would hope to update everybody on this soon. Ant i like the suggestion of seperate queues for food and alcoholic drinks. I never fancy a pint at the game it's always hot food so this would be fine by me. The betting suggestion is a great one - it would certainly save me time before the match as i always go to the bookies to stick a bet on.
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Post by blum on Dec 1, 2010 13:47:00 GMT 1
Personally I think it's a shambles, only been in the West stand once and remember that was really bad. In the South it starts of with a sort of systme then degenerates into a fiasco. I am sure one day there will be fisticuffs. They should either have a seperate section for booze or have some sort of filter system to at least try and stop people pushing in. Marcus, I hear what you're saying about taking food with you but if you dont want to carry a bag with flask etc. and if you prefer fresh drinks/grub then it's a case of queue and take your chances. We are finding that in order to get out for the second half we have to miss the last 10 minutes of the first half.. SY3... you need to persevere mate, the cottage pies are excellent!!
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Post by The Shropshire Tenor on Dec 1, 2010 15:23:27 GMT 1
Theatres have a system whereby you order and pay for interval (half time) drinks in advance and are given a ticket which you exchange for your drink during the interval.
The drinks are poured and ready for collection prior to the interval, so it's just a matter of handing over your ticket and colecting your purchase.
Something like that could work for cold drinks and food.
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Post by salopianed on Dec 1, 2010 16:13:23 GMT 1
We have the inherent problem that the concourses are too small.
This will always restrict what services can be offered on matchdays.
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Post by Pilch on Dec 1, 2010 16:53:41 GMT 1
They should have one long queue for the buffet, and fenced off
It's pretty much a case of if you don't fancy any of the several queues just start another Great when it's your idea, not so much fun when it's someone starting one in front of you
I went fir a bovril last match and gave up Time before I asked where the pepper was and was told Dunno, it's ere sumwhere It's a pain looking for it when it's busy Probably too much trouble for them to have more than one pot ;-(
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Post by shrewsburyshrew on Dec 1, 2010 17:03:38 GMT 1
Surely people have noticed a marked improvement since those straight, parallel , yellow lines have been put down to help the queuing system?
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Post by wibbin on Dec 1, 2010 17:46:18 GMT 1
How hard can it be to start pullling pints maybe 15 mins before half time and rack them up. Then, like a lot of big venues, they get handed over. Would speed up the process hugely.
The separate food/beer queues also make a lot of sense.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2010 19:00:30 GMT 1
dont use the buffett anymore. was bad enough before the game having to fight your way through groups of drinkers stood everywhere and having their pints sloshed down ya. why the **** cant they stand the length of the concourse on the sides. the stewards are very good at keeping entrances and exits clear yet allow these people just to stand in everyones way.
then of coarse when you do get to the buffett you have to wait, not an exessive amount of time (pre match) in fairness to the caterers, but have young and old pushing in the queue cos they dont think the queing system applies to them. i have found the older ones the worst in fairness.
there has to be some way an orderly queing system can be introduced. if not, perhaps we can just ask that those using the area behave a little less like pigs around a trough at feeding time.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2010 19:07:14 GMT 1
Ive said before what doesnt help is you have people who have got their food and/or drink who then wait behind the queue as put their food/drink on the side
Put wall brackets everywhere but immeditely by the buffet and people will then have no reason to congregate around there.
As people have said though, the design is poor and thats something that we cant change. The only thing I can see getting things moved quicker is the pre-poured pints which other posters have mentioned. Im sure Ive seen this at other grounds, possibly Southampton
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Post by simianus on Dec 1, 2010 19:26:51 GMT 1
Personally I think it's a shambles, only been in the West stand once and remember that was really bad. In the South it starts of with a sort of systme then degenerates into a fiasco. I am sure one day there will be fisticuffs. They should either have a seperate section for booze or have some sort of filter system to at least try and stop people pushing in. Marcus, I hear what you're saying about taking food with you but if you dont want to carry a bag with flask etc. and if you prefer fresh drinks/grub then it's a case of queue and take your chances. We are finding that in order to get out for the second half we have to miss the last 10 minutes of the first half.. [img src="http://www.shropshire.btinternet.co.uk/smiley/ www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/mad/mad0223.gif"].gif [/img] SY3... you need to persevere mate, the cottage pies are excellent!![/quote] i didnt put that accross too well, i meant get buffet food before the game, it seems less crowded until about 2.45 i tend to pop in about 2.30 the cottage pies are very nice, never any lumps of meat stuck together and well seasoned etc, but tbh, i would like to see a bit of veg in them, maybe even cost less to make that way too.
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Post by simianus on Dec 1, 2010 19:28:31 GMT 1
there has to be some way an orderly queing system can be introduced. if not, perhaps we can just ask that those using the area behave a little less like pigs around a trough at feeding time. good point, tis a bit of a struggle to get through and people can be quite rude
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Post by Pilch on Dec 1, 2010 19:39:09 GMT 1
i hate pre poured drinks
i used to be a regular cuppacino lovely drink until i fell for a standing one luke warm, horrible, didnt drink it queue to long to go back and moan
simply not had another since
never had a beer and wouldnt want a pre poured one
do have an accasional bovril unlike the others i dont think it would effect it too much if it had been standing
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Post by WindsorShrew on Dec 1, 2010 20:08:19 GMT 1
To even think Health and Safety is an issue regarding vending machines is simply silly and a perfect example of what gives H&S a bad name.
With regard to the South Stand, myself and friends used to take it in turns to buy a hot drink on the 30 minute mark to avoid the queues. I have to say that for the last 3 home games we have been unable to.
A single queue of 11 people last week with 1 staff member serving, the remaining 3 staff were preparing food for the half time rush, I waited 4 or 5 minutes but then decided to head back to my seat less I miss too much of the game.
Thing is the product is good and reasonably priced, the only hinderence is the lack of access. Half times are a shambles - the queuing system has been mentioned before but has never been addressed.
I first mentioned mobile drinks to Mr Wellbeloved when we first moved in, happens in German footy, Canadian Ice Hockey and Rugby.
Me and Bob decided flasks until the weather improves.
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Post by jamo on Dec 1, 2010 20:33:59 GMT 1
It amazes me somewhat that a man who made his fortune providing food for the masses cannot provide food for the masses in his own backyard.
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Post by davycrockett on Dec 1, 2010 20:34:24 GMT 1
bit like Chesterfield which was much better
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Post by simianus on Dec 1, 2010 21:44:46 GMT 1
It amazes me somewhat that a man who made his fortune providing food for the masses cannot provide food for the masses in his own backyard. i cant claim to know much about his business, but wasnt it drinks machines that he made his money with? it's hardly catering is it, and rather on an individual than feeding the masses. You would think that if any club was going to have a vending machine, it would be this one, so there must be a good reason not to, otherwise they would be ignoring a profit stream. maybe he had a catering firm, i really dont know. and to be fair, they do produce plenty of food for "the masses", just maybe not enough for everyone, or not quickly enough. i think people are asking a lot of a league 2 football club, had to queue at Wembley and at villa. i know people have come up with what the think are solutions, but i can see reasons why they may not be implimented. the drinks machines may have something to do with the amount of queus allowed , or it may be considered an obstuction in the event of a crush or a fire. mobile drinks sellers sound a bit dodgy to me from a health and safety and a practical point of view. once poured, drinks go cold so there would likely be a lot of wastage, and with lots of people comes unpredictability, and the possibility of lots of hot drinks being spilled over some poor soul. then there is the extra cost of the equipment and the staffing, would it be cost effective? if not, are the club stuck with a lot of stuff they neednt have bought. i've only given it 10 minutes thought, but already i can see that it isnt as easy as just deciding to do so, and waving a magic wand.
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Post by roberto02afcct on Dec 1, 2010 22:32:38 GMT 1
a proper Queing system is needed for the buffet area to seperate those queing for food & beer so to allow those who have just purchased food to not spill there drink (as I have done a few times from people trying to force there way forward) and that is not to mention the cheecky sods who try and push or be sly and slide into the que. Once that is done i think in the west stand (the most busy of them all) then it will make for much more of a profitable buffet and happier stand
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Post by lionshrew on Dec 1, 2010 22:34:59 GMT 1
Near the end of the first half I have to go down and watch the rest of the half at the bottom just so I can get a decent place in the queue.
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Post by onthetrain92 on Dec 1, 2010 23:17:33 GMT 1
The vending machines thing is utter bollox, Darlington have vending machines as do other grounds. A couple vending machines to do cups of tea and snax would be a good idea, the thing is it would take trade away from jennys and thats the problem.
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