Rangers retail partnership with Castore has been hailed by the club’s marketing director James Bisgrove as he announces Gers fans have already snapped up 200k Castore products.
If each product averaged out at £50 per item it would mean Rangers fans have ploughed the best part of £10m into the club since the deal launched in June.
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The club’s new relationship with Castore – which comes after years of the club’s merchandising being suffocated by Sports Direct and is reported to be worth at least £25m – has seen a number of positives for the club’s fans.
Not only can they purchase kits for themselves and their kids, but the Gers have renovated, reopened and reclaimed the megastore at Ibrox Stadium with the club planning to open a shop in Glasgow airport.
The true value of the kit deal to the Rangers coffers won’t be known until next year with the deal not part of the latest Rangers accounts but Bisgrove is sure this arrangement will be a welcome cash boost to the club.
“The new partnership with Castore represented a landmark commercial breakthrough for the football club, not least as all our previous kit and retail agreements came to a welcomed end, as was widely reported in the summer,” said Bisgrove [Glasgow Times].
“Whilst the commercial boost from the Castore deal was not reflected in the 2019/20 accounts, the signing of a new retail agreement was a significant milestone for our club on several levels and will be felt for many years to come.
“Turning around a wide range of Rangers products and launching a kit and training range in a three month window, when every other kit manufacturer works to 18 month-lead times, in the middle of a pandemic, was a monumental achievement by Castore.
“The lengths and costs they went to were unprecedented because they wanted to deliver for the Rangers support.
“The uptake on Rangers’ Castore products so far has been remarkable, but not unexpected given the backing the supporters give our club.
“In the first quarter of our partnership, over 200,000 Rangers’ products had been sold – these are unbelievable numbers and clearly have a direct and positive impact on our commercial revenues moving forward.
“The launch of our new online store was another long-awaited development for the football club, which integrated seamlessly with our new industry leading club website.
“Furthermore, the new Rangers Store at Ibrox is a daily reminder of the strides our club has taken.
“We look forward to a bustling store when fans return to Ibrox very soon, along with the Official Rangers Store at Buchanan Galleries and others that are set to open in 2021, including Glasgow Airport.
“I’ve spent a great deal of time with Castore’s founders, Tom and Phil Beahon and their management team and Castore are proving themselves to be an innovative, premium brand with a real challenger mentality.
“With the luxury of a clear run at the 21/22 kit launches, we are incredibly excited about next seasons anniversary kit range and I know Castore are committed to delivering both high levels of product quality and customer service to Rangers support.”
Rangers signed a landmark long-term deal with Castore in the summer allowing the club to finally reap the benefits of a fanbase starve of retail products for many years.
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