Today's Highlights

• The Pro Shop
• McCartney, Adidas extend collection to golf
• Ah, sugar ... oh, honey, honey

NEWS

Headwear no longer just for men

Gogie Girl launches its line of female headwear at the PGA Merchandise Show. There are four lines available, the signature line being the Dottie, which is available in a base brown with a choice from four different colored polka dots.

Briefly

King Golf releases its 2008 line of hats, which feature the company’s logo on the front, raised logo in the back and KG on the left side. New colors Carolina Blue and Burnt Orange have been added to the line.

FEATURE

The Pro Shop

Editor’s note: As part of an on-going series, GPA Contributing Lifestyle Editor Katharine Dyson will examine public and private pro shops throughout the country, finding from pros and merchandisers what works and doesn’t work in an effort to turn the goods.

THE ABACO CLUB ON WINDING BAY
Location: Abaco, The Bahamas.
Public/Private: Private; $85,000 per membership.
Of note: Course ranked No. 1 in the Bahamas by Golfweek.
Architects: Donald Steel and Tom Mackenzie, 2004.

Shop Scene
When we met in his pro shop, Justin Norvell, director of golf, was wearing a gold Bugatchi golf shirt. Other Bugatchi shirts hang in a rainbow of colors on racks in the center of the shop.

Norvell knows a little about merchandising, having worked at Blackwolf Run and Whistling Straits in Wisconsin and Pebble Beach. He also worked at Doral 2004-2005), where he launched the ‘Doral Online Golf Shop’ which along with other initiatives, led to the club being named one of the top 100 golf shops in America for the first time in 18 years.

Some of Norvell’s ideas are quite simple — something like wear’em, flaunt’em and they will buy.

“We wear what we sell,” Norvell said. “I wore this shirt and two weeks later, they were all gone.

“I told Mike Brown, our director of sales I would give him a shirt if he promised to wear it to work. I sold 20 of the shirts in three weeks. People don’t even look at the price. They see it being worn, have to have it and put it on their tab.”

Not hurting the cause to move the merchandise is Norvell and Brown being handsome men. But it does pose the question: What would happen if you hung that gold Bugatchi on a guy whose belly hung out big time over his belt?

On Display
A string of shirts are hung on racks against a background of light-colored natural wood paneling accented by flattened palm fronds. Accessories like hats, gloves, shoes, t-shirts rolled up in wicker baskets and even wood-carved parrots (the club’s logo) are artfully arranged on a center table and on perimeter shelves. The whole look is colorful, light, tropical. And fresh.

Two racks of women’s skirts hang side-by-side. One group looks like Kensington Gardens. The other has a simpler, more streamlined look.

“I can’t give these away,” said assistant pro Frank Austin, pointing to the rack with the flower power. “They’ll go on sale soon.”

Which goes to show, it’s all about knowing your market.

Several large white totes decorated with dazzling Swarovski crystals brighten up a corner. At $150 each, Norvell is not sure if they’ll move, but he took a chance anyway.

“I bought a dozen of these,” he said. “Haven’t sold any yet but we’ll see. They certainly sparkle up the place.”

Pro Tips
On logos: “Our golfers don’t like big logos. The smaller, the better. Many don’t like logos at all,” Norvell said.


RICHTER PARK GOLF CLUB
Location: Danbury, Conn.
Public/Private: Public.
Of note: Rated as one of the Top 50 Golf Courses in America and received the Four-Star Golf Course award by Golf Digest in its “Places to Play” edition. … Owned by the town of Danbury, Richter winds around a reservoir and a pond, rolling gently over hilly terrain. The course is a stunner, especially in the fall. … Residents pay $32 plus cart; others pay up to $95 for golf and cart, which may sound expensive for a public track, but, hey, this is Fairfield Co., Conn., where horses get heated barns and daily rubdowns.
Architect: Edward Ryder, 1972.

Shop Scene
Catching head professional Ralph Salito on a break is rare.

“The average golfer knows about everything, so I really don’t have room for anything but major golf products from better known companies like Callaway, Titleist, Sun Mountain, FootJoy and Greg Norman apparel.”

As Salito’s shop is about the size of a double wide, he certainly has to buy his stock carefully and likes high-profile merchandise.

“Nike works well. Tiger has made it hot. If you want something else, there is always Dick’s.”

“Used to be if you had a club in the bucket from the year before, it didn’t matter. Nothing really changed. Now if you have last year’s club in your shop at the end of the season, you’d better sell it or you’ll be giving it to your pal down the road for Christmas.”

Even though last year’s products may be perfectly good, Salito understands the quality of outdated products may not always equate to what will sell.

“I had a 10-year-old TV. It worked fine but this guy offered to sell me his 2-year-old set, a $3,000 model, for $300. I was happiest guy in the world. Like a lot of people, he didn’t see his “old” set as state of the art, so he was on to the next toy.

“It’s kind of like selling cars. Last year’s models just won’t move.”

Pro Tip
Salito admits that buying and displaying merchandise, especially women’s apparel, is not his forte. That is why he employs a professional buyer.

“The lady is basically a retail consultant and she handles it all,” said Salito, 2007 Connecticut Senior Open and upcoming president of the Connecticut Section of the PGA. “I can only do so much. I’m CEO, CFO. I’m an island. And no offense … I would like to have more women’s stuff, but 2 to 5 percent of the players at Richter are women so I can’t dedicate 50 percent of my shop to women’s apparel.

“I see a lot of people but we have a personal relationship with everybody who comes into the shop. We try to be on top of what people can afford. We aren’t a private club where people are less cost conscious.”