FrontofshopFRONTOFSHOP
We have reached the tipping point
This month Retail Tribe’s Ian James reflects on the past year and assess the importance of the current news and trends within the golf trade.
D
id you read the article that we published last year in this magazine predicting that the merchandising of TaylorMade metal woods at Dick’s Sporting Goods could only end in tears?
If you missed the news: Dick’s Sporting Goods (DSG) announced that they
were laying off 500 Golf Professionals at their stores. This was on the back of a significant slow-down in sales. The CEO of DSG specifically noted the challenges they had with inventory, margins and the lifecycles of specific brands. Did you read our article in last month’s magazine, which forecast that the mass-market, discount retailers were the group most vulnerable to the shortening lifecycles and non-stop promotions in the golf equipment industry? If you think those questions contain a healthy dose of ‘told you so’, it’s only
because I passionately want green-grass Professionals, and those who manage the green-grass groups, to embrace a better way of managing green- grass retail businesses. While the insanity of the situation we highlighted at Dick’s is now big news, don’t think different insanities don’t plague our whole industry. If you disagree, check your stock turn on gloves. Focusing on the current news though, let’s all make sure we’re learning the
right lessons.
It isn’t product lifecycles that are the problem Short product lifecycles are getting a large share of the blame for the current situation. As controversial as it sounds, they’re not to blame. We live in an era of unbelievable innovation and the pace is not going to
slow down. We’re not the only industry where products hit the shelf with great fan-fare in January, to be replaced by even more efficient, faster, brighter and powerful versions in August. Other industries have managed to cope with shortening lifecycles. In fact,
many have used the opportunities of innovation to drive sales and margins, creating very profitable operations.
26 SGBGOLF
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