Kit sales have exceeded expectations
AFC Wimbledon’s new partnership with Admiral Sportswear has been a resounding success with sales of kit and training wear having surpassed all expectations.
not being able to sell it, and not ordering enough, but no-one thought for a moment that we’d sell out so quickly.” When you order kit it is always a little bit of a gamble between ordering too much and Unfortunately, this success has resulted in home shirts in all adult sizes having sold out before Christmas. Commercial Director Ivor Heller said: “We thought the new kit would be very popular so we ordered enough for two years’ worth of sales of the previous kit. They’ve sold in less than five months!!
The club shop team had anticipated heavy demand from the very start. Deliveries were staggered with the initial launch in June followed by a scheduled top-up in October. The latter shipment had to be brought forward to August.
Training kit has also sold exceptionally well and way beyond expectations This meant that stocks of items, including tracksuits, polo shirts, training shirts, hoodies and zip tops were severely depleted, leaving a number of gaps on the shelves at the club shop.
Admiral Sportswear did its best to supply the late orders and have cleared their warehouse, therefore shipping every last available item to the club. Some junior teams will be kitted out in interim products, but there is no prospect of any more deliveries of training wear or playing kit for the shop this season.
Commercial Director, Ivor Heller, said: “We are encouraged by the achievement and delighted to see so many Wimbledon fans proudly wearing our colours. As stated on many occasions previously, the achievements of our volunteer merchandise team is nothing short of staggering. The club, including the board and the Dons Trust, wishes to thank them for their efforts. However, everyone in the merchandise team would like to apologise for any disappointment caused by the shortage of stock.”
There will, however, be plenty of goods available for Christmas as we are launching a new leisurewear range. This is due to arrive in early December and will be available online and in the club shop, which will be open for the FA Youth Cup match on Thursday, 11 December, and on extra days. Look out for a separate announcement on the official website detailing dates and hours of trading.
As for next year, we are pleased to report good news about forthcoming kit after collating next year’s orders in early October. There will be a huge delivery of home shirts, which has already been brought forward from July to May, due to timely submission. The quantity has already been increased twice due to predicted demand. A completely new range of training wear for the 2015-16 season is on schedule to arrive in June, plus a new third kit and a third goalkeeper strip.