Match Night Experience

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Ocko

Well-Known Member
#101
#101
The size and location of the cafe, as the sole eatery in the rink, make it incredibly difficult to be a success. 2 till points for 3k people is an incredible oversight at planning.

It needs additional places to eat. The ideal solution would be a relocation of skate hire and coffee bar put there or moving the hospitality areas to the famous gantry (and obviously converted) and then converted to food outlets. It's not gonna happen so the easy option is probably a few stalls dotted around the rink.
 
JC23

JC23

Well-Known Member
#104
#104
Leighton said:
I used to own subways. Most do aroubd 7k a week. I had two of them.
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To add to this, I used to run the Welsh branches of Mission Burrito (now closed due to competition within the city centre, but that was after I left.) and our weekly take was between £7,000 and £12,000 per week on average. So I think £20,000 to £50,000 may be correct for a large restaurant, but for a fast food outlet of the same size as Subway/Mission which would be ideal for IAW, you’re way off the mark @Josh Williamson.
 
Josh Williamson

Josh Williamson

Active Member
#105
#105
I’m not about to get into a debate on the weekly taking of 2 examples of which both no longer trade. I stand by my comments, gained from being involved in the industry and recently seen, in fact, I’m looking on projections at this moment.

As a footnote, l stated most outlets, l haven’t mentioned brands, size, simply outlets. Franchise companies, as you should be aware want to achieve high levels of turnover, what they seek and the reality can be different, would a major brand look at the IAW ?


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pjj365

Well-Known Member
#107
#107
Doubt any franchise would look at IAW at the moment - there does not appear to be a decent steady footfall to merit it.

Almost by definition daytime trade is going to be constrained by skating in numbers being a leisure activity

Todd did say they were looking at improving use of the ice, improving the food offering and looking at making the bar more attractive as a coffee bar/bar.

Short term fixes can probably be made on the food front (be interested though as to how pop up/street food outlets could be fitted in and what the take up might be***) The other 2 will take time. In due course though IAW should become attractive as a leisure venue THEN it might be attractive to a franchise.

*** Note that Mission Burrito did not come back after its one night!

In the meantime lets support what will inevitably be incremental changes
 
Leighton

Leighton

Active Member
#108
#108
for the record @Josh Williamson my two stores are still there and trading - I chose to sell them on because i wasn't a fan of the business model.

No high street franchise will work in IAW as there isn't enough footfall, no multiple day parts etc etc. a Pizza outlet be it Dominos, Papa Johns or whatever could work as the vast majority of pizza sales throughout the week are collection/delivery not on-site so the unit could do the majority of its business to non-IAW guests.

but... with a franchise comes a ton of restriction on what can and can't be sold...

all the cafe needs to do is improve, not drastically change.
 
Hedd Wyn John

Hedd Wyn John

Well-Known Member
#111
#111
Ocko said:
The size and location of the cafe, as the sole eatery in the rink, make it incredibly difficult to be a success. 2 till points for 3k people is an incredible oversight at planning.

It needs additional places to eat. The ideal solution would be a relocation of skate hire and coffee bar put there or moving the hospitality areas to the famous gantry (and obviously converted) and then converted to food outlets. It's not gonna happen so the easy option is probably a few stalls dotted around the rink.
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To sort the IAW out you’d practically need to rebuild it. The space dedicated to the second rink is a huge waste & undermines the main arena. It’s a classic jack of all trades. Heck the second rink only needed to be a glorified shed out back. If they’d shifted the main arena over by 30m they’d have space to put more food stalls and could even have upped the seating capacity by a couple of hundred or so.
 
Wannabe2

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
#112
#112
Hedd Wyn John said:
To sort the IAW out you’d practically need to rebuild it. The space dedicated to the second rink is a huge waste & undermines the main arena. It’s a classic jack of all trades. Heck the second rink only needed to be a glorified shed out back. If they’d shifted the main arena over by 30m they’d have space to put more food stalls and could even have upped the seating capacity by a couple of hundred or so.
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Not true one iota, the 2nd Pad was for all other ice users, and without their support nothing could have been achieved, a glorified shed out the back would not have pulled in the public skating figures that was so important to getting this project off the ground. As for the capacity we were getting between 12/1600 at that time over in the BBT, This project was only achieved with every ice users on board, it was never just a home for the Devils, and as for food outlets, keeping our club alive was the main focus, not selling hot dogs.
 
Hedd Wyn John

Hedd Wyn John

Well-Known Member
#113
#113
Wannabe2 said:
Not true one iota, the 2nd Pad was for all other ice users, and without their support nothing could have been achieved, a glorified shed out the back would not have pulled in the public skating figures that was so important to getting this project off the ground. As for the capacity we were getting between 12/1600 at that time over in the BBT, This project was only achieved with every ice users on board, it was never just a home for the Devils, and as for food outlets, keeping our club alive was the main focus, not selling hot dogs.
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Personally I like the IAW. But most people can see that it’s flawed in many respects and I stand by my comments, it’s a jack of all trades and the match night experience suffers because of it. With a little imagination public skating could have been sufficiently catered for without too much detriment to the hockey environment. However it is what it is and we’ve gotta work with what we’ve got.
 
Wannabe2

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
#115
#115
The 2nd Pad was not only for public skating, it was for figure skaters,junior, ladies, rec, and all other hockey teams, plus at the time there was going to be a curling team established. You say match night experience suffers because of it, my answer to that is at least we have a match night experience, and believe me we came within a whisker of having bugger all to experience. Is it perfect no way, is it the best we have had in 30 yrs yes without a doubt. We have a club, a very successful club, 10 yrs ago we were going into oblivion that’s fact. It’s far from perfect, but it’s the best in the league to watch hockey, sometimes you can’t have it all, ask Panther fans.
 
Johnnybravo1927

Johnnybravo1927

Well-Known Member
#116
#116
On a matchnight, all food sells out by the end of the 2nd intermission. They could easily double their food sales and if the bar was run properly that could also double its takings. Granted thats only on matchnight but already thats a huge rise in revenue. If the remaining 5/6 nights a week and off season were to make some money as well then the financial future would be very bright
 
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pjj365

Well-Known Member
#119
#119
Josh Williamson said:
The IAW concept was reject by investors, it was unviable, argue all you want, it’s a fact.

Interesting. What was the concept? BUT NO don't tell me because its history. Any argument is just fighting old battles and living old dreams

We need to look to the present and future and thankful the Devils are working on it





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