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NOTE: In observance of July 4, the Golf Press Association will not publish The Apparel Wire. The e-newsletter will resume publishing on Thursday, July 6. We hope you have a safe and enjoyable Independence Day.
NEWS
Dunning Golf hires Justine Muschlitz as sales representative for Florida.
Adidas Golf introduces its Tour Traxion, University and Greenside styles for the summer.
A CONVERSATION WITH ...
Mary Lopuszynski
Editor's note: Golf Press Association publisher Alex Miceli concludes a two-part interview with Mary Lopuszynski, director of licensing and merchandising for the U.S. Golf Association. In this segment, the conversation focuses on merchandising at the U.S. Open and the impact and importance of logos.
Q.: I noticed, I think starting even as far back as Bethpage, you tried to do some exclusive merchandising. Are you starting to go more toward that kind of merchandise?
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: Yeah, we always try to do that. We try to have products that you will only see in the merchandise pavilion at the U.S. Open, because we have our catalog, so a lot of people are USGA members and receive that and see that. And then, of course, there's the host club where they're selling in their shop and a lot of people are from the area and have seen the product, so we try to have graphics that they have never seen before. And that are fresh and new, just for that 11-day period.
Q.: Now if you're a USGA member you don't have the opportunity to use that membership when you're in the shop or tent, but you do have that opportunity to use the membership if you buy online.
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: Right. Or in the catalog. There's a lower price for USGA members. The problem with having it in the merchandise pavilion is -- and you've seen it how busy it gets -- it would slow things down to a degree where it would make it even more slower than it already is when we get busy. So it would be very difficult to try to process member transactions. and figure out who is a member and who is not when we're trying to get people through the cash registers as quickly as we can.
Q.: So how many registers do you have?
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: We have 48 up in the front up in the POS area, and then we have four just smaller ones on the sales floor. And we also actually have a small satellite tent, it's 40-by-50, and that has six registers. So we have 54 in the big tent and six in the satellite tent.
Q.: Is that new having the satellite tent?
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: For us it is, yeah. Like at Shinnecock we had the golf shop and we had small satellite tents like you would see at a concert or wherever like you walk up to a counter. Like tiny ones. But this time is the first time we have had a bigger walk-in tent. It's the same size as the tent we had at the Walker Cup.
Q.: And the reason for that?
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: Well, the way it lays out this year, on the property, we always look at this when we're planning, where we have the big tent where probably half the people will walk right by it coming and going. And then there are basically two main entrances, one is the train entrance and one is the main entrance. And half the people will come in there. And they will come in and they won't have to walk by the tent, so it's just a traffic flow thing. So we figured we would do that and then try to maximize sales with having the extra tent.
Q.: You obviously do merchandise for some of the other USGA events, as well. On scale, how big are the other events compared to the U.S. Open?
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: Well, the other events are run by the management companies that run them. We don't do the merchandising like at the Senior Open or the Women's Open. We try to help them where we can as far as logistics and numbers and that kind of thing, but as far as size, I would say that Women's Open and Senior Open merchandise sales are [each] probably less than 10 percent of what a U.S. Open does. I mean they're still great events, great championships and that's a great number for them to do, but the U.S. Open is significantly larger, what we do in merchandise sales.
Q.: The growth of U.S. Open merchandising, I'm assuming, continues to grow. I don't know if it's exponentially, if it's double or single digit growth, but how much is it growing?
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: It just depends on the year.
Sometimes it doesn't grow. Other times other years it does. I would say the biggest was Bethpage. That was and still is our biggest.
Q.: Does the logo matter? Have you found that to be the case?
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: Yeah. The logo certainly helps. And this one here at Winged Foot is a popular logo. People really like the Winged Foot. Do you like the logo?
Q.: Yeah, I do. I hate the Torrey Pines logo?
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: The tree? Yeah. It's kind of a southern California thing, I guess.
Q.: Well, I was born there, I went to high school in southern California and I still hate it.
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: Really?
Q.: I think they could have done so much more with that logo.
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: Ah-ha.
Q.: That's just me.
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: Yeah, yeah. Everyone has a different opinion about the logos. Shinnecock, people really seem to like that one a lot … with the head dress and everything it was colorful. Or we could do it tonally and it still looked good. So the logo … we never had a bad U.S. Open merchandise wise, because of the logo. But I think it helps in the years that it's a stronger logo.
Q.: Yes. I like the Oakmont logo.
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: Yes, the squirrel. That always does well. Everybody seems it really like that one too.
Q.: Do you get involved at all in the logo?
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: Yes, we do. It's kind of a combination of the USGA and the host club and the membership of the host club. For instance, Olympia Fields, the clock tower, that's what they wanted us to use there.
Q.: So like how far in advance are they done?
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: Well, right now, we have 2008, 2009 is Bethpage again and that logo is done. In 2010, it's at Pebble Beach, that logo was actually just completed, but it's not anywhere yet. And then Congressional in 2011 and Olympic in 2012. Those don't have a logo or merchandise yet.
Q.: So the Pebble Beach one for 2010 has been approved?
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: Yes, but just recently, so they don't have any product and probably won't for a little bit.
Q.: But contractually they can start, right?
MARY LOPUSZYNSKI: They can, yes.
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