Castore – Thoughts So Far & Online Availability V Rangers Store Exclusives

They should have made more of a point that the 3 months turnaround could be an issue then.

Beahon told us they'd been gearing up for a year to do football and expected to ship 500k strips in the first 12 months.

They've come up short.

We do have to thank them for helping break the SD deal.

They promised the World on top of that though and are coming up way short.

I've been lucky getting my top when it was expected and then the online training gear I ordered coming in good time too. The plain Castore hoodie I bought, when the deal was announced, is also good quality.

However, I can't get my 6 year old a strip and that is an absolute nonsense.

I'm not buying a thing more until they iron all the problems out and get the kids strips sorted.
Has it been 12 months or 2 weeks?
 
Desperation for what?

Can they not wait a week or have they just not gave a %^*& what’s happened?

Just to add to the debate, I agree with most of the points, but people do realise there's a pandemic going on, production of kits is extremely impacted, even look at EPL clubs etc and you'll find they're having issues with stock too, its not an issue solely for Castore and Rangers.

I love my home shirt, I was lucky enough to get it the Monday of launch. These issues will all iron out over the coming weeks to months but people talking of Rangers fans buying from SD out of "desperation" need to have a word with themselves. Desperation? It's a football shirt not your last crumb of food. There's no excuse for buying from Ashley after all he's done to us, whether we get a cut or not!

Does any EPL club have fans still waiting for pre-ordered kits weeks after launch?
 
Has it been 12 months or 2 weeks?

What do you mean?

Can we not criticise all the failings until the 1st August 2021 or is the argument more non linear?

The point was that if their aims were to sell 500k items (200k strips he mentioned) over the course they must have a plan to do so.

The huge majority of these sales would have been with the strips in the initial period.

That's what we're dealing with now and with each passing day, and the issues not being resolved, it looks like there was more bluffing going on than we first thought.

My initial thought when he mentioned the 200k strips was that that was setting the bar really high. I don't think we've ever done that in volumes of kits even at the height of the Nick Peel era.

Castore themselves have set the standards with their buzzwords and catchphrases like "innovation" "online / didital presence" and "global brand" with tales of working round the clock and factory growth to match demand.
 
Don't think the Castore people have heard of under promise over deliver. Their PR department have been blowing smoke up our arses for months..

They should have concentrated on home shirts in adult sizes only and told us kids will be available later on.

Tell the truth and people can't greet and moan.
That's not the way of the Rangers support and you know it! ;)
 
I think after the debacle which was the pre release of the home kit they’ve proven themselves too small for a club our size. The “In Store Exclusives” is also a lot of shi te as there are plenty of us who cannot get to the store.

They’ve only had afew months to get all this organised. I wonder if they had these in store exclusives planned thinking football would be back and now either don’t know how to rectify it to deal with such an online demand or can’t deal with it due to the virus and it’s knock on effect with their suppliers. Same with stock in the store. Maybe they thought it would only be busy on match days with days in between to restock but lockdown means no match days and busy every day.

I think this is where them being a little company will cause problems. They dont have the flexibility, staff and stock to react quickly.
 
While the situation with pre orders is unacceptable, I think people need to be a bit more understanding when it comes to availability.

The pandemic has had a big impact on shipping and manufacturing, I don't think you can really blame them too much when we sold over 100,000 units of replica kit inside the first week or so of the partnership
 
Only two issues I have is one refunds everything I have had needed to order in a medium and large so returned about £350 in tops and training wear,not heard a thing from them have emailed and not heard back.two in store only living in southport and wanting the trackie top,I think it’s poor not being available to us all.
 
The sports direct shop in Livingston is sold out of Rangers gear, and this is probably down to lack of availability from castore.

People buying from the fat slug out of desperation.

There's no excuse. I want plenty of the gear but have waited this long and will continue to wait until such times as Castore get it sorted. Shite as it is I'm not going near the fat cunts store
 
Wife(no pics)and her brother in store just now after queuing for an hour and only home tops left in short sleeves are Medium.Largest is 2Xl in third top.Bro in law will fit into nothing!
 
I was in the shop this morning; very little in adult L and above, and pretty much nothing in kids JXL for anyone looking for those sizes. There is some really nice gear, the home/ away kits in particular; but the lifestyle stuff does not seem to be in the same league in my view. Only one polo shirt in my size, but I ended up deciding I really don't want to be running around in a polo shirt with Unibet plastered on the collar. I'll wait for better options.
 
What do you mean?

Can we not criticise all the failings until the 1st August 2021 or is the argument more non linear?

The point was that if their aims were to sell 500k items (200k strips he mentioned) over the course they must have a plan to do so.

The huge majority of these sales would have been with the strips in the initial period.

That's what we're dealing with now and with each passing day, and the issues not being resolved, it looks like there was more bluffing going on than we first thought.

My initial thought when he mentioned the 200k strips was that that was setting the bar really high. I don't think we've ever done that in volumes of kits even at the height of the Nick Peel era.

Castore themselves have set the standards with their buzzwords and catchphrases like "innovation" "online / didital presence" and "global brand" with tales of working round the clock and factory growth to match demand.
It’s not reasonable for them to talk themselves down in the marketing though is it? Yes while the customer service hasn’t been where any of us want it to be, a lot of the support won’t accept anything other than having a massive range of high quality gear that fits them right and gets delivered 2 days before it’s supposed to.

Let’s thought exercise it. You claim the issue is that they bigged themselves up too much. But honestly if they said “We’re a new entrant to the market and its COVID so there won’t be much kit for a while, bear with us” there would be thread after thread after thread that they weren’t big or ambitious enough for a club our size.

I think my real bugbear here is that the only acceptable result to our fan base seems to be perfection and I think in the actual circumstances presented here with a short design and manufacture window, they’re doing a very good job. Why not release new/different items like the leisurewear now and make more sales for customers who want it?

It’s very unlikely, in my opinion, that the thing holding back the next batch of home tops is the leisure stuff. Most likely different manufacturers and materials (in one of the interviews they explained that they have been using manufacturing from all over the world to expand from their normal Portuguese set up).

Its also very easy to say they should’ve hired more people and got bigger warehouses and had capacity with different courier companies in hindsight but in these circumstances it’s not necessarily that simple. There are only so many hours in the day and growth isn’t exponential or easy. Maybe it was too short notice for DPD to take 50k orders or was cost prohibitive?

I think we would all agree that lessons need to be learned going forward, but let’s all show some patience for a bit.
 
It’s not reasonable for them to talk themselves down in the marketing though is it? Yes while the customer service hasn’t been where any of us want it to be, a lot of the support won’t accept anything other than having a massive range of high quality gear that fits them right and gets delivered 2 days before it’s supposed to.

Let’s thought exercise it. You claim the issue is that they bigged themselves up too much. But honestly if they said “We’re a new entrant to the market and its COVID so there won’t be much kit for a while, bear with us” there would be thread after thread after thread that they weren’t big or ambitious enough for a club our size.

I think my real bugbear here is that the only acceptable result to our fan base seems to be perfection and I think in the actual circumstances presented here with a short design and manufacture window, they’re doing a very good job. Why not release new/different items like the leisurewear now and make more sales for customers who want it?

It’s very unlikely, in my opinion, that the thing holding back the next batch of home tops is the leisure stuff. Most likely different manufacturers and materials (in one of the interviews they explained that they have been using manufacturing from all over the world to expand from their normal Portuguese set up).

Its also very easy to say they should’ve hired more people and got bigger warehouses and had capacity with different courier companies in hindsight but in these circumstances it’s not necessarily that simple. There are only so many hours in the day and growth isn’t exponential or easy. Maybe it was too short notice for DPD to take 50k orders or was cost prohibitive?

I think we would all agree that lessons need to be learned going forward, but let’s all show some patience for a bit.

I'm all for patience and reason. 3000 people with issues isn't anywhere near perfection though.

If they'd sold 100k kits and had 50 odds returned or no delivered and there were heavy moans, that'd be OTT.

My bugbear, particularly, is that I can't get a kit for my 6 year old. There is no stock to fit any kids between the ages of 5 and 7.

That's not them having bigged themselves up and had a couple of issues. That's a failing in a huge area of their market.

That's a priority long before any leisure ware.

Yes, it's easy for me to say they should have had bigger warehouses but I'm saying it becaue they themselves promised that they'd meet the demand and they haven't.

Preorders now being cancelled because they've failed to match stock requirements and have also sold it in the shops since has created two issues. Not only are the levels in the store low for many sizes but they've failed 3% of the pre-order people too.

If the cost was prohibitive on delivery as an excuse you're giving them, they shouldn't have taken such large pre order numbers in the first place as that just causes a furory when they come up short.

I get we're a big undertaking. I wasn't asking for them to say "Covid and new market entrant" at all and here's no point in having a discussion if you're going to fire wildly in the other diection of the point I was making (which is a terrible internet trait to just shout extremes when presented with an issue)

The point is they sold themselves as a premium brand capable of taking on the World and being Rangers ideal partner. As things stand, they're nowhere near that after the initial buzz.

I like their kit. I think their non-Rangers gear is good. They're currently in the middle of a PR issue that is putting ALOT of people off and it's not the customer's fault however it is dressed up.
 
Would’ve taken a navy tshirt and hoodie this morning but my size sold out before I knew they were online.

Don’t know if it’s a good sign that the demand is there, or poor availability. Probably both.
 
The away top is made in China? Mine actually has a design flaw as the red piping on the shoulder blade to the collar is about 4mm lower on one side v the other. Never noticed it to begin with but once I did it annoys the fkn brain out me how shoddy it is.

The Hagi hoodie on the other hand, is superb quality, I suppose greater care may be taken on QC with higher value items. Not sure if it too is made in China, will check later.
Didn’t know that current units were made in China. I thought all were Portugal.
i was using China as a possible poorer unit than Portugal.
 
Just got the home top and shorts in kids Large and away top and shorts in kids medium from the store.

the home one wasn’t available online. No socks in kids sizes - adults start at 6-8.
 
People have been queuing round the stadium for over a week, I’m not sure anyone envisaged this much quick demand
 
Went on this morning to buy the navy t-shirt, had it in my bag while I was checking out some other stuff then was sold out when I went to the check-out :rolleyes: Are they making about 5 of each item?

Desperate to get my son his first kit too but nothing available in the kind of 4-7 year old category.

I'm sure it will click eventually but not good enough so far.

I've also been after some of Castore's non-Rangers gear for a while as well (shorts, tees, jackets) but the stuff I want is never in stock. Must be having all sorts of problems with their suppliers
 
I'm glad I'm too old to be decked out head to toe as that leisurewear is boring.

Design wise it's all a bit fashion and high end high street. Not really the interesting design led sportswear or retro tracksuit options you get with the bigger suppliers. Hats look cheap with the 5 stars give the price. Classic football shirts have some Nike deadstock hats for a tenner with the BIG RFC badge. Don't think that era will ever be topped in terms of style and quality.
 
Definitely seems like they're simply not able to meet the demands of our size of support.

The same issue has happened over and over, but there's usually a few mentions of "first time dealing with it", "first time they've had to deal with a club our size", "didn't have a lot of time to ramp up production", "It's only a kit, be patient", etc.

To be honest, I don't see any of those things as justification for anything. None of it should come as a surprise to any kit supplier/manufacturer as they have historic sales (and failures to meet demand) to refer back to and plan around.

Castore may be a premium brand, but their supply chain still needs to be able to meet the needs of the consumer spending the cash. Once they make a commitment to do that and acknowledge they're aware of historical issues and volumes they'll need to deliver, they're accountable for making it happen and taking the criticism if they don't.

I've asked this on a previous thread, but do other big clubs with massive demands (eg EPL clubs like Man U, Man City, Liverpool, etc) encounter similar issues? Genuinely don't know. However, we've been cycling through different suppliers for a few years now and always run into the same problems.

Depending on the supplier, some of the fans are more forgiving or more critical. However, the simple thing for me is that we're the consumer, paying for a product/service and if they don't fulfil it as agreed, it's on them.

It's not good to start off on a poor footing like this however anyone cuts it. Not being able to just get a home kit on the website is well below what we should be expecting from any supplier IMHO.
 
I'm all for patience and reason. 3000 people with issues isn't anywhere near perfection though.

If they'd sold 100k kits and had 50 odds returned or no delivered and there were heavy moans, that'd be OTT.

My bugbear, particularly, is that I can't get a kit for my 6 year old. There is no stock to fit any kids between the ages of 5 and 7.

That's not them having bigged themselves up and had a couple of issues. That's a failing in a huge area of their market.

That's a priority long before any leisure ware.

Yes, it's easy for me to say they should have had bigger warehouses but I'm saying it becaue they themselves promised that they'd meet the demand and they haven't.

Preorders now being cancelled because they've failed to match stock requirements and have also sold it in the shops since has created two issues. Not only are the levels in the store low for many sizes but they've failed 3% of the pre-order people too.

If the cost was prohibitive on delivery as an excuse you're giving them, they shouldn't have taken such large pre order numbers in the first place as that just causes a furory when they come up short.

I get we're a big undertaking. I wasn't asking for them to say "Covid and new market entrant" at all and here's no point in having a discussion if you're going to fire wildly in the other diection of the point I was making (which is a terrible internet trait to just shout extremes when presented with an issue)

The point is they sold themselves as a premium brand capable of taking on the World and being Rangers ideal partner. As things stand, they're nowhere near that after the initial buzz.

I like their kit. I think their non-Rangers gear is good. They're currently in the middle of a PR issue that is putting ALOT of people off and it's not the customer's fault however it is dressed up.
Your complaint is that they put themselves forward as ambitious and online focused but haven’t been able to match the promises made. My comment wasn’t strawmanning you either despite your offence- the alternative was for Castore to say they couldn’t deliver all product that the support want for the season starting?

What would you want them to have said? Genuine question.

They’re a new entrant into this mass market and what you can’t argue with is that in just a few months they’ve designed and delivered over 100k kits. I’m not for a minute suggesting that customers not getting stuff is right and it should be made whole as quickly as it can be. But Hermes damaging 3000 kits is entirely out with their control. COVID-19 is out with their control.

My point was that they can’t win and that’s reinforced when you said they should take less preorders. But if you do that you still have people who want the kit and can’t get it who are pissing and moaning about Castore being shit.

But my criticism of those on this thread and on social media is about what’s a fair criticism. I’ve done customer service roles in the wedding attire industry and people think that stamping your feet and being indignant is the way to solve problems but if the item of stock isn’t there to give to the customer it’s not there. If there’s only so many bodies answering emails then it’s going to take time to recruit and train more people. In the circumstances maybe they could have done it differently but hindsight is 20/20. Next year, now that they know the demand, it has to be smoother and more in line with the rest of the football world.

The reason it’s not all there is because of COVID fucking over the economy and because of a short lead up time. If being indignant makes you feel better then ok, batter in. But you’re not being entirely fair.
 
Ha, you’re right.

I’ve since decided that, since I can’t get one, I’m gonna get a normal Garcia hoodie instead.

Only problem is the grey and black one I want with the big wings only goes up to XL and I need an XXL.

Couldn’t make it up!
See in regards the hoodies.I got the AMC hoodie from their online store 3-4 months ago.Now I’m usually a large but was told their stuff was fitted so bought a xl.Its to big for me.Its a bit baggy.
 
Just because Castore call themselves a ‘premium’ sporting brand doesn’t actually mean they are premium. It’s just there own way of talking themselves up. The training gear I got is nice but the Rangers badge and castore logo are all just stuck on, rather than embroidered not a very premium finished product for a premium brand at a premium price.
 
Everything i want from the online store is out of stock in my size. Looking forward to it all being back in so I can spend my money.
 
Ordered 2 of the training tops and a pair of shorts on Wednesday and they arrived today, Friday morning. Happy with the service and the stuff is really good quality. Only negative is I wanted the blue shorts too but were out of stock.
 
Ordered 2 of the training tops and a pair of shorts on Wednesday and they arrived today, Friday morning. Happy with the service and the stuff is really good quality. Only negative is I wanted the blue shorts too but were out of stock.
Not to be nosey re the sizing are they what you were expecting?Is the fit good?
 
I’ve got a lot of Nike gear for going to the gym and the size is pretty much the same as that. I’m 6ft and 13 stone and went for the large and it fits fine.
 
I’ll start by saying there’s much to admire about our partnership with Castore.

The quality of the items I have, and have seen, are superb.

And, let’s not forgot, the most important thing of all – we’re 100% free from Mike Ashley’s clutches.

However, I’m getting really fucked off with nothing being available online.

Is Rangers Store exclusive a euphemism for we’re unable to meet our stock commitments?

Castore deserve many plaudits... but, for me, the lack of availability online is very poor – particularly for a challenger company that prides itself on being digitally native.

I also believe stock levels in the store at Ibrox leave a lot to be desired.

We have a worldwide fanbase absolutely desperate to part with their money.

We need Castore to meet this desire – and as soon as possible.

The Castore guys seems very happy to chat to the fans, so I’d be really interested to hear from Castore and/or the club about when they’ll be able to provide a level of service that adequately meet fans’ demands.

As I said, there’s so much to be happy about with this deal – but let’s not be afraid to call it out when things aren’t good enough.

And, in my opinion, Castore have seriously been found wanting when it comes to the subject of stock availability, particularly online.

Let’s hope there’s a big improvement in this area before too long...
Without taking the thread off topic, can you tell me if admin would allow a thread for people who want to sell items which are unsuitable?
The home shirt I ordered for the boy is too small, and it seems it would be less hassle offering it for sale on here than trying to return it!
 
I'm slightly surprised at people wanting to cancel after 2 weeks of non delivery - have we really become that impatient? Is it so important to get your top on launch week?

It’s not the waiting that makes you impatient. It’s giving a company a lot of money and over six weeks later you’ve not heard one peep out of them.
Not even an email explaining that there has been a problem. Would anyone not feel a bit pissed off/worried you might not see your tops/money again if this was any other company not linked to Rangers? They claim numerous times in each interview they do how great they are when it comes to online stuff and data etc So surely they have a database of all unfulfilled pre-ordered strips which they could fire out a blanket email explaining the delay and give the buyer a bit of comfort.
 
I would like more of an online offering that is similar to what the shop has on offer.

I fully understand the in-store exclusives will create a demand, but it just frustrates the majority of supporters who can't get into the shop for whatever reason.

I would like the Garcia hoodie and the orange training top and as soon as they get put up online I'll be snapping them up - I didn't need them to be in store first for me to realise I wanted them.
 
I’ve not had anything in regards to pre order yet so I would say they are not up to the task. It’s not acceptable to me that they aren’t able to rectify that particular situation
 
Your complaint is that they put themselves forward as ambitious and online focused but haven’t been able to match the promises made. My comment wasn’t strawmanning you either despite your offence- the alternative was for Castore to say they couldn’t deliver all product that the support want for the season starting?

What would you want them to have said? Genuine question.

They’re a new entrant into this mass market and what you can’t argue with is that in just a few months they’ve designed and delivered over 100k kits. I’m not for a minute suggesting that customers not getting stuff is right and it should be made whole as quickly as it can be. But Hermes damaging 3000 kits is entirely out with their control. COVID-19 is out with their control.

My point was that they can’t win and that’s reinforced when you said they should take less preorders. But if you do that you still have people who want the kit and can’t get it who are pissing and moaning about Castore being shit.

But my criticism of those on this thread and on social media is about what’s a fair criticism. I’ve done customer service roles in the wedding attire industry and people think that stamping your feet and being indignant is the way to solve problems but if the item of stock isn’t there to give to the customer it’s not there. If there’s only so many bodies answering emails then it’s going to take time to recruit and train more people. In the circumstances maybe they could have done it differently but hindsight is 20/20. Next year, now that they know the demand, it has to be smoother and more in line with the rest of the football world.

The reason it’s not all there is because of COVID fucking over the economy and because of a short lead up time. If being indignant makes you feel better then ok, batter in. But you’re not being entirely fair.

It's not hindsight though. I'm fed up seeing that as an excuse for fsilure

They were told what to expect numerous times by various people. They haven't met stock demands.

My point is that I didnt expect them to say anything or than a standard press release / conference.

Weve never had this from Nike, Unbro, Diadors, Adidas (or even Hummel recently) but Beahon himself was front and centre constantly pushing the 500k line and speaking of 200k strips.

They put that pressure on themselves. They just had to say less or tone down the "online distributor experts" type line and there would have been less scope for complaints.

I totally get the Covid issues. This was announced during that period though. It didn't blindside them two weeks after they spoke. They promised to deliver despite all that going on.

I cannot fathom why there aren't kits for 5-7 year olds. There's literally no excuse for that whatsoever. Can you provide one?

They've come up short in too many areas to have a "more than average" report card.

Funnily enough, I've experience in the wedding industry myself. I know what a moany bride is like when the slightest thing isn't perfect.

My main career is also in sales. I know when customers aren't happy and when its justified or not.

Things do take time and if it's all improved next year, it'll pretty much be forgiven.

As things stand, not being able to reply to customers who've been failed is nothing that can be excused. If you've got thousands of complaints, hire agency workers to deal with the complaints for a month.

Teething problems are expected. Not sorting them immediately is a bigger issue.
 
ive had a quick scroll through some of the replies, and havent seen anything which im certain there will be somewhere that ive missed, so apologies if so. but, ive just received my away top, which i also bought some blue shorts at the same time. the away top is size 12 and i ordered a L, dont know how the numbers correlate to sizes but regardless, its far too small. and the shorts i ordered were a mens L and ive received a white pair of kids medium. anyone had similar? i saw a guy on twitter had pretty much exactly the same.

not sure where i go from here, i live in london so cant go to the shop to change them. anyone able to share any info, or even quote any replies with relevant info that i may have missed?
 
ive had a quick scroll through some of the replies, and havent seen anything which im certain there will be somewhere that ive missed, so apologies if so. but, ive just received my away top, which i also bought some blue shorts at the same time. the away top is size 12 and i ordered a L, dont know how the numbers correlate to sizes but regardless, its far too small. and the shorts i ordered were a mens L and ive received a white pair of kids medium. anyone had similar? i saw a guy on twitter had pretty much exactly the same.

not sure where i go from here, i live in london so cant go to the shop to change them. anyone able to share any info, or even quote any replies with relevant info that i may have missed?


I know London's a big, busy place but Castore has a London store and I think they stock our kits. Might be worth heading there if you can, or even just giving them a call to see if there's anything they can do?

 
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Only two issues I have is one refunds everything I have had needed to order in a medium and large so returned about £350 in tops and training wear,not heard a thing from them have emailed and not heard back.two in store only living in southport and wanting the trackie top,I think it’s poor not being available to us all.
Surely someone so selfish to waste clothing by ordering 2 sizes for everything is low on there priority..
 
Quality of the stuff is second to none the service on the other hand is jobby. Totally overwhelmed by the demands which is unacceptable really. I hope they learn quickly from this.
 
Aye but you only want half of it? I've spent more but I'm no going to blah blah oh look at me how much I've spent.
Neither am I
Aye but you only want half of it? I've spent more but I'm no
Aye but you only want half of it? I've spent more but I'm no going to blah blah oh look at me how much I've spent.
whats selfish about making sure it fits,but I suppose you being a big man butting people down, makes you happy carry on.and all I said was I haven’t heard about a refund
 
We went with a company like the because they could offer more than the big boys would ever sign up to.
A young ambitious start up company biting off more than they could chew is what broke that sports direct shackle.

So yes, disappointing.
But it was still the right thing to do despite many a disappointment.
I totally agree, the club would had the same concerns as we fans had in terms of stock etc. But everything outways SD.
It's a fantastic opportunity for Castore and I think they'll really go for it.
 
Neither am I


whats selfish about making sure it fits,but I suppose you being a big man butting people down, makes you happy carry on.and all I said was I haven’t heard about a refund
And I said folk buying stuff they don't need is low on their priorities right now (I'm sure they will fix it in a few days) .. not being big man? you only one mention figures. just don't get the moaning when you the one buying stock others potential could have got.. fair play if that's what you do.. :)
 
And I said folk buying stuff they don't need is low on their priorities right now (I'm sure they will fix it in a few days) .. not being big man? you only one mention figures. just don't get the moaning when you the one buying stock others potential could have got.. fair play if that's what you do.. :)
I don’t normally but was said to go a size up on kit,anyway now I know my lads a medium that’s all I will order,if that makes you happy
 
A bit OT but i'll be over at Ibrox on Sunday about 1pm and looking to go into the store and pick up a few things. How long have the queues been generally?
 
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