The Yard

[Jourdan]

1 hour ago, GboroRam said:

For me it's the perfect way to raise cash. Gouge the willing for as much cash as they want. If you dont like it, dont go. Its not an essential part of the match day experience. 

If you don't like it, don't go? If the club have the same attitude, then this venture is not going to take off, is it?

Like I said, it's a great idea if you execute it well. But I don't see anything that sets it apart from the rest or anything that will appeal to as many people as possible.

If you've been to Pride Park and have a connection to the club, you'll be well aware it's most probably just an extension of the catering services of dubious quality and value we find in the concourses. 

Imagine you are a family of four from Mickleover. You want to go for a family lunch on a Sunday. How does The Yard have any sway over any of the dozens of gastropubs in the Derby area?

Great idea but I think the execution is not so savvy. It seems to only cater to a shrinking demographic.

 

[Jourdan]

1 hour ago, sage said:

There is the fans park. The in ground bars with food. There is Igors and McFarlands Bar and Starbucks. There are food vans around the ground and around Pride Park. There is Frankie and Bennys and Subway next to the ground. When it reopens there will be the DW bar 50m from the ground. Within half a mile there is a KFC, a Burger King and a Pizza Hut. Also within that distance is the Merlin, the Harvester, 7 restaurant and Chiquitos. The Travelodge has a bar. 15 mins walk from the ground will get you to the Alex, Brunswick, Waterfall etc. Or walk to Chadd with pubs, shops and takeaways.

I think that unless there is a Wetherspoons with no queues 30 seconds walk from their seat some people won't be happy. 

You have a choice. Choose.

 

Exactly, Sage, we as consumers have a lot of choice.

So surely if you are opening a new restaurant, you want your restaurant to stand out for one reason or another - be it because of the atmosphere, be it because of value or be it because of the variety or intrigue of the menu.

You want it to be the restaurant that people choose. You want full houses, you want the telephone ringing all day, you want queues outside the door.

No-one is saying it should be a Wetherspoon's. But if you are going to charge £4.95 a pint and £10+ a main, you need some X factor.

You have been along, you have experienced the place. What is The Yard offering that would make the regular consumer choose this place to eat over say The Exeter Arms? 

[Jourdan]

I am a big fan of the continental model, rather than the rip off Britain model.

I went to Porto recently and the food there was excellent and I never left a single place feeling shortchanged.

Throughout the city, wherever you went, there was much greater alignment between value and quality and it encourages you to dine out.

In Britain, the prices you pay for what you get, it's usually poor to average quality at a premium and there is no incentive to eat out.

Why pay £9.95 for a burger and chips when you could prepare the same meal at home to the same standard if not better and probably for less?

[Sith Happens]

4 hours ago, Jourdan said:

I am a big fan of the continental model, rather than the rip off Britain model.

I went to Porto recently and the food there was excellent and I never left a single place feeling shortchanged.

Throughout the city, wherever you went, there was much greater alignment between value and quality and it encourages you to dine out.

In Britain, the prices you pay for what you get, it's usually poor to average quality at a premium and there is no incentive to eat out.

Why pay £9.95 for a burger and chips when you could prepare the same meal at home to the same standard if not better and probably for less?

What meal can't you prepare at home for less ? 

[sage]

2 hours ago, Jourdan said:

I am a big fan of the continental model, rather than the rip off Britain model.

I went to Porto recently and the food there was excellent and I never left a single place feeling shortchanged.

Throughout the city, wherever you went, there was much greater alignment between value and quality and it encourages you to dine out.

In Britain, the prices you pay for what you get, it's usually poor to average quality at a premium and there is no incentive to eat out.

Why pay £9.95 for a burger and chips when you could prepare the same meal at home to the same standard if not better and probably for less?

Portugal is the cheapest country in Western Europe. Once you are out of touristy areas it is very cheap.

This is because their wages are lower and fiscally they have a lower standard of living.

You can live on a lot less in a warm country. 

[bcnram]

16 hours ago, Jourdan said:

A club-owned restaurant is a great idea.

But looking at the menu, I don't see a unique selling point. Nothing jumps out at me and says 'I need to eat this!'

Then to have it built into the stadium and to charge those prices, you are closing off a large number of people. 

How are they connecting with the man on the street? If fans are scoffing at £30 match tickets, why on Earth are those same fans going to traipse all the way to PP to pay £10 for a full English breakfast? Short answer is, they're not.

If they want to charge more upmarket prices, open a restaurant in the city centre. In the Cathedral Quarter, for example. Make it atmospheric, make it a place people genuinely would want to go to.

After all, unless you are based in and around Pride Park, i.e. you work or you live in the area, you are only ever going to go on a matchday, if at all.

 

There is a whole raft of eating places on Pride Park which suggests that people don't only visit on match day. I found it pretty good with easy parking. The prices are probably what you would expect and certainly not outrageous. Their market is not the very low income people that you feel they should be attracting, they can go to McDonalds or Morrisons to spend their £3 can't they? After all. it is a business not a social service.

Why would they open a restaurant in the City Centre that they would have to pay rent on when they already have this large space for nothing?

[Boycie]

28 minutes ago, bcnram said:

There is a whole raft of eating places on Pride Park which suggests that people don't only visit on match day. I found it pretty good with easy parking. The prices are probably what you would expect and certainly not outrageous. Their market is not the very low income people that you feel they should be attracting, they can go to McDonalds or Morrisons to spend their £3 can't they? After all. it is a business not a social service.

Why would they open a restaurant in the City Centre that they would have to pay rent on when they already have this large space for nothing?

It won't be for nothing.

[Day]

By time you’ve added the EasyJet flight to Faro that burger and chips looks quite pricey 

[Sith Happens]

2 hours ago, Boycie said:

It won't be for nothing.

Could be part of Mel's cunning plan to get around FFP..charge himself £30 million in rent a year....great idea.

[bcnram]

10 minutes ago, Boycie said:

It won't be for nothing.

That's true but probably largely just moving within the same group rather than to a retail landlord.

[Rev]

It's surely not a bad idea to open up a DCFC owned fan pub in the city centre.

Make it convenient for the free buses, fill the pub with Rams memorabilia, a few meal deals on match day, RamsTV on the tellys, drinks offers and such, maybe get the club ambassadors pulling the odd pint, guaranteed money maker right there.

[Jourdan]

1 hour ago, bcnram said:

There is a whole raft of eating places on Pride Park which suggests that people don't only visit on match day. I found it pretty good with easy parking. The prices are probably what you would expect and certainly not outrageous. Their market is not the very low income people that you feel they should be attracting, they can go to McDonalds or Morrisons to spend their £3 can't they? After all. it is a business not a social service.

Why would they open a restaurant in the City Centre that they would have to pay rent on when they already have this large space for nothing?

I know it's a business. No-one is saying give food away, no-one is saying offer £3 meal deals, but correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think this is in line with the disposable incomes of families and the majority of working people, especially in such a cost-conscious financial climate. It's Derby, not London. 

When I was growing up, Derby was always known as a family club, a community club, welcoming families and communities of all ages, all incomes. A club for everyone. Not a club that highlights the divide between the haves and have nots.

But you can see more and more in the last decade especially, they've lost touch with a lot of people and the club has become a corporate machine. Increasing ticket prices, increasing kit prices, increasing food prices, and creating just an overall different feel around the club.

Why open a restaurant in the city centre? It's the focal point of the city. It's the most concentrated area of people and of potential trade. It's where a large number of businesses are and where a large number of people work, meet, socialise, dine out. It's a no-brainer...

[Rev]

19 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

I know it's a business. No-one is saying give food away, no-one is saying offer £3 meal deals, but correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think this is in line with the disposable incomes of families and the majority of working people, especially in such a cost-conscious financial climate. It's Derby, not London. 

When I was growing up, Derby was always known as a family club, a community club, welcoming families and communities of all ages, all incomes. A club for everyone. Not a club that highlights the divide between the haves and have nots.

But you can see more and more in the last decade especially, they've lost touch with a lot of people and the club has become a corporate machine. Increasing ticket prices, increasing kit prices, increasing food prices, and creating just an overall different feel around the club.

Why open a restaurant in the city centre? It's the focal point of the city. It's the most concentrated area of people and of potential trade. It's where a large number of businesses are and where a large number of people work, meet, socialise, dine out. It's a no-brainer...

I can't agree that ticket prices have risen. 

In fact, I'd wager they've not kept pace with inflation over your chosen timeframe. 

[Jourdan]

3 minutes ago, reveldevil said:

I can't agree that ticket prices have risen. 

In fact, I'd wager they've not kept pace with inflation over your chosen timeframe. 

Oh no, Rev, look what you've started. Spoiling a compelling narrative. 

I'm just waiting for Ramblur to come along and discredit everything I've written. 

[Boycie]

Well, whilst I agree that football has become a corporate beast, I accept that the club has to move with the times or get left behind with FFP amongst other things.

Using the same argument, are you saying we should of stayed at the 20k capacity BBG?

[Pearl Ram]

Got to say, I'd rather pay a tenner for a burger and chips in a nice ambience with likeminded people than 4 quid to share a table with Chavbag McDougall. 

I think the prices are partly set so as not to attract a certain clientele, if someone is dining on a match day with their wife and children the last thing they want is a load of Allenton's finest chucking beer all over the place like they do on some concourses.

Just my tuppence worth.

[ramblur]

53 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

Oh no, Rev, look what you've started. Spoiling a compelling narrative. 

I'm just waiting for Ramblur to come along and discredit everything I've written. 

Learnt my lesson the last time

[Boycie]

14 minutes ago, EastHertsRam said:

Got to say, I'd rather pay a tenner for a burger and chips in a nice ambience with likeminded people than 4 quid to share a table with Chavbag McDougall. 

I think the prices are partly set so as not to attract a certain clientele, if someone is dining on a match day with their wife and children the last thing they want is a load of Allenton's finest chucking beer all over the place like they do on some concourses.

Just my tuppence worth.

I winced when I read this, get under the kitchen table quick mate! ?

[Pearl Ram]

4 minutes ago, Boycie said:

I winced when I read this, get under the kitchen table quick mate! ?

Oh, is Allenton salubrious now ? 

[Boycie]

6 minutes ago, EastHertsRam said:

Oh, is Allenton salubrious now ? 

Ow gowd!

you ain't seen me, alright?