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"Trade Talk..."
A New Year, a new start. Out with the old and in with the new. There was a time when every sports retailer was anxious to stock the latest branded official football shirt and have it on sale as soon as it was released. Often to the annoyance of parents, but usually to the delight of their offspring, the changes came all too quickly.
As to the prices, to say that they were far from give-aways is somewhat under exaggerating the facts. And Jo Public was often upset by press reports accusing supplier and retailer of making excessive, even obscene profits from their sales. All too simply, profits were expressed as the difference between the actual cost of making the garment and the final retail price. Those who contributed these stories of scandal, which more often than not would allude to slave labour and child exploitation, made no reference to the facts, preferring to ignore these in favour of a headline catching story, making a fast buck for themselves and contributing to the fortunes of their bosses.
It was the public who were getting ripped off by the suppliers and the retailers.Was there really no awareness of the true costs involved? The material, the transport, the packaging, the warehousing, the staffing, rents, council charges,VAT, insurance, shrinkage, lighting, heating, cleaning, banking, fortune telling (for how else does one predict?) and many other expenses common to every retailer and indeed to every distributor.Many times I have wished that work experience was not restricted to students but could take in teachers and why not journalists too. One of the top journalists today actually spent his gap year working for me and I like to think that he owes just a little something to that period in his life, but equally, a prominent brain surgeon also was a Saturday assistant once and I pray that he will not, one day, have his own back on me. But I digress. It isn’t simply the prices that deter many independent retailers from stocking the latest replica shirts. Two factors have, for many, been decisive. Firstly, that some multiples appear to use them as loss leaders, though rumour would have it that their buying power ensures that no loss is involved, not forgetting the substantial fines imposed recently after several were found guilty of a price fixing scandal. And secondly, as many will have learned to their considerable cost, the punter will not pay even the price of an unbranded shirt once there is a new pattern announced, and any remaining stock becomes worth less even than it cost. There are few lessons better learned than those accompanied by burnt fingers.
ALAN FINCH was born in 1948, the same year as the now knighted Trevor Booking. Somewhat before its notorious period, he was a pupil at the first-ever comprehensive school, ‘Rising Hill’ in Islington from where he went on to Penton Street School. He was always very sporty, swimming, playing cricket, performing as a gymnast, but had a particular passion for football, eventually reaching the dizzy heights of school team captain, playing in the now defunct position of ‘Inside Left’ despite being right footed. He was one of that rare breed who kicked well with both feet, which then as ever after were always kept inside of adidas boots, a football brand of boots that he firmly believes has no equal. Thomas, 13 and his brother Joshua, just 15, both play sport to a high standard, the latter a keen rugby player and a whiz at Ice Hockey. One theme kept recurring whilst we spoke. Alan’s insistence that one should ‘go with the gut feeling’, and it is a policy that has seen him progress in life sometimes against the odds. He is certainly a man with guts and from the time he left school has followed his own advice throughout. “Sod this for a game of marbles” he said when bidding farewell after three days in the drawing office of the Daily Express, rebelling at the break time routine when everyone gathered in the toilet area to puff away at their Woodbines.
As one male among forty women, he quickly advanced from cutting linings, and occasionally his fingers, at a Mantle maker (these days called clothing manufacturers) in the East End of London opposite the infamous ‘Blind Beggar’ public house, later to become a fully fledged top Eastman cutter for a well known London fashion house. In 1978, the year of Rio Ferdinand’s birth, he followed his instinct for change, and his guts for direction, and opened a record shop.With an exceptional flair for publicity rather than declaring that his shop could be found because it was near to Selfridges he cleverly turned the tables and advertised after his address, ‘Selfridges are near to us!’ The word chutzpah comes to mind and this was using it to the best advantage. Just two years on he was approached to work for Elton John.Were I writing this for The New Musical Express, I would be able to fill several pages with many interesting stories about this period in his life but, apart from disclosing that one Michelle who was working in a neighbouring office in Clerkenwell and met him at a Christmas party being held at Knights Club in Holborn Viaduct, she making contact with bread rolls and he quickly allowing himself to let his guts guide him, falling madly in love, well, the rest is history.
It is hard to pinpoint when it all started. In the fifties, Alan recalls, as a loyal Arsenal supporter and fan, which he still is to this day, he was far from shy. After a match he plucked up the courage to ask Vic Groves, a one time Arsenal captain, who sadly died just a few days before our chat, for his shirt. To his surprise and delight his request was agreed. Imagine the scene, some forty years later, when Alan made his way to Arsenal’s buying office in 1991, just a few paces from where he had been given that shirt, with his own put together replica of the gold shirt in which Arsenal players had won the FA Cup Final in 1950. The emphasis then, as now, was on the authentic reproduction. So much so that their copy of the 1958 Man United badge has a wrongly spelt Latin word woven into it, just like the original! Alan’s knowledge of sources, gained in the trade, was put to good use, right down to the buttons, every replica is as exact as humanly possible. And how he must have delighted in his gut, when John Hazell placed an immediate order for one hundred and fifty shirts, an order worth £1550. The challenge now was how to fulfil the order and as he tells of pinning his bank manager down, perhaps not literally, in the car park, and offering his watch (refused) as collateral, but coming away successful in his request for an overdraft, one could feel his sense of relief. The order itself was good grounds for excitement and satisfaction, but what a boost to his prospects when he approached other clubs with the news that Arsenal had place their order.Michelle, Company Secretary and a lady with her own gut feelings and never short of inspiration to add to her strong personality, realised that they were on to the start of something that was unique, useful, and really worth while, put on her thinking cap and decided to call the company exactly what it set out to be and what it still is, ‘The Old Fashioned Football Shirt Company’ and so ‘Toffs’ was born. True, the business started in an upstairs room (well, the loft, to be exact.) and the Bank manager was impressed when he came to check progress and found three desks.
And what of the business today? (And tomorrow!) The phrase ‘from little acorns…..’ comes to mind, Here is a really big oak tree for the Finches to nest in.With a range of some 1250 shirts, from hundreds, yes hundreds, of clubs, and sales exceeding £2m. annually, with a Christmas up 50% over last year, wow! Soccer Scene in Carnaby Street are long standing customers and they are glad to sell through reliable independent sports shops, who, if not already in on the game, should make contact now. They do have a fantastic web site and sell directly to the public. Yours Truly is not averse to this situation, always provided that the retailer is given a fair crack of the whip. Indeed, their experience of ‘retail’ can often be used to advantage by the independent, getting to know the best sellers, and of course, local teams with a history, can be a good source of extra trade for those prepared to go where their guts tell them.
As to tomorrow,with a certain player off to the States to earn an honest dime or two or three or maybe lots more, the Finches moves deeper into foreign fields look set for further success.With a Senior Marketing Executive and a new International Sales Executive between them fluent in French,German, and Spanish, and presumably with a splash of American to add to their repertoire, it looks to be roses all the way.
This brief account has only skated over the business and its history. I am sure that there is a book waiting to be written about these two remarkable gutsy entrepreneurs.
They may be a couple of Finches, but to me they are more a couple of Toffs. Toffs with good gut feelings. Toffs that have looked back and continue to design their future with a keen eye on what is past. Toffs that have a lesson for us all. Looking back is not looking backwards. Looking back and recreating what is good from the past and making it work for us in the future is a sure road to success.And taking note of our gut feelings, that can help too.
Talk Back: to Jack – or send suggestions for those brands or retailers you would like him to talk business with on your behalf. Email the Editor or writeawayjack@aol.com
