Rangers retailers Castore have enjoyed an up-and-down introduction to football as they look to shake up a market which has been in the hands of a few major companies for too long.
Rangers are Castore’s first venture into the competitive football market and whilst their attitude and determination is a breath of fresh air, the implementation of it has not been without issues.
Many Rangers fans aren’t happy about the price of a special the Roofe is on Fire t-shirt and hoodie which celebrates his famous strike against Standard Liege.
Whilst opinions on the design may be subjective there’s a near-universal agreement that £30 for a simple slogan t-shirt or £50 for the hoodie equivalent is fleecing fans.
Not to mention the fact they are not available in the club’s colours – unless you’re counting white.
The club has also launched a stylish all-black Rangers range in their lifestyle collection but there have been grumbles about the prominence of the Castore branding.
For plenty, there’s an over-emphasis of the retailer’s angel wing logo with the Rangers crest taking a back seat.
The “blackout collection” doesn’t come cheap either – but I suppose no-one is under any pressure to buy anything and fans can be rest-assured that the club will benefit.
This also comes after fans railed against a maroon Garcia hoodie with the name of the club and those angel wings being sold on the online shop for £170.
On closer inspection, it’s the same Garcia hoodie being sold on the Castore website, with an added £5 on top.
You can see why many fans feel this is fleecing supporters and reducing what we’re told is a bespoke club retail deal to helping the company kill two birds with one stone.
That’s the whole thing – it’s a Rangers and Castore deal and the garments produced as a result of it should be a combination of the two and not just a convenient re-marketing of existing products.
This gives the impression that the deal is being used more for Castore’s convenience than it is for fan satisfaction.
The biggest positives about this £25m kit deal have come in the production of the club’s kits which have undoubtedly had a bespoke, classy edge to their design which put Rangers at the forefront.
Reimagining pre-existing products to put them into a new market which haven’t been dreamed up for Rangers fans, but rather for the money in their pockets, is something very different.
New kits, anthem jackets, high-quality Rangers-focused lifestyle products are the direction they must take.
The retro kit – albeit £68 – was another superb addition to this catalogue of strong, Rangers-centric products.
But fans don’t need them to whack a Rangers badge on their latest Castore products and present them as exclusive merchandise.
The retailer might be trying to shake-up the global footballing retail marketplace – but they don’t need to take fans for a ride in the process.
