Previously fans of York City had to trek to Bootham Crescent to buy the latest kit and caboodle.
But no more. The club has teamed up with tourism organisation Visit York, opening a concession in its Museum Street HQ.
A wide range of merchandise is on sale at the Visitor Information Centre, including
-
York City home and away shirts
scarves
mugs and keyrings.
Fixture information will soon be available too, all helping to raise awareness of the club within the city.
Huge benefit to the club
York receives nearly seven million visitors annually and the Visitor Information Centre hosts 500,000 people every year.
So getting a presence in the centre was a huge step towards cementing York City’s place within the life and culture of the city, said the club’s head of partnerships Nick Greatrex.
“This partnership was one of my key objectives since beginning my role in spring,” he said.
“A presence in the city centre is absolutely vital to the expansion of our commercial activities, and I believe that this will be of huge benefit not only to the football club, but to our sponsors.”
Amari Morgan-Smith and Nick Greatrex
Phil Howden, the club’s head of media and supporter engagement, agreed.“York City supporters have bemoaned the lack of a city centre presence for a number of years.
“While I believe the club still has a lot of work to do in promoting itself within the city, this partnership with Visit York lays the foundation for what I hope will be the first of many exciting opportunities for the club in the centre of York.”
He added: “It’s important that the pride the supporters have in the club is reflected well enough that every visitor to York knows about it.”
Julie Brookes, Visit York visitor centre manager, is certainly on side. “The football kit and merchandise is a great new addition to our retail offer,” she said, “and we’re sure it will be very popular with locals, visitors and our international visitors looking to support the city’s team.”