SUMMING IT UP
• Even a shop with the best merchandise mix and most sophisticated operating approaches will fall short if it is not carefully designed to have a floor layout that promotes smooth traffic flow and provides effective space for displays. • As retail shops sell “lifestyle goods” rather than simply golf goods, clubs are finding success with items for tennis, pool, fitness and spa operations. |
A well-designed shop can improve productivity and yield a marked increase in revenue.
When McConnell Golf bought Cardinal Golf and Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. in 2006, one of its key management strategies for reviving the private club—which had earned acclaim after opening its Pete Dye layout in 1972, only to fall on tough times earlier in this decade—was to gain control of the club’s pro shop and redesign the space to maximize potential sales.
“Too many clubs are not reacting to the retail boom,” believes McConnell’s Director of Golf Operations, Brian Kittler. And in Kittler’s view, the consequence of being slow to respond in today’s market is not only lost sales, but lost memberships.
Since McConnell purchased Cardinal’s shop six months ago from the club’s Director of Golf Operations, Scott Stratton (who still manages it), it has been running at a 38% overall margin—above the 23% it had budgeted, and the national average.
The turnaround at Cardinal is just one of many that can now be found at clubs and resorts that have recently discovered (or rediscovered) how retail shops can be a key revenue—and profit—stream. Like Cardinal, more properties, and in particular private clubs, now own and control their shops—and not just the traditional golf-oriented pro shop, but other specialty outlets for swimming, tennis, fitness, souvenirs or general apparel and merchandise.
This has fueled, in turn, a renovation boom, as clubs implement sophisticated inventory technology, incorporate online sales and bring new efficiency to their shop operations. These properties recognize that even with the most creative merchandising, a poor shop design can crush profit expectations before the doors are ever opened.
Going with the Flow
“How the shop is set up is one of the most important decisions, because it dictates the flow and accessibility of merchandise,” says Jason Cherry, Director of Golf at Haig Point Club on Daufuskie Island, S.C., which recently underwent a renovation of its 1,000 sq. ft. shop.
Haig Point’s new design features a reclaimed horseshoe-shaped counter, wall alcoves designed to display hanging merchandise, and smaller, dedicated display tables, all to encourage better traffic flow and casual browsing. These improvements, Cherry reports, have already boosted profits about 5% overall in the first five months, with stronger increases in some areas.
A trend towards larger shops has been seen as part of the renovation boom—but it remains debatable whether there is a “perfect size” for a pro shop. According to McConnell’s Kittler, the “ideal” size still depends largely on the type of facility, membership and amount of anticipated play and volume.
“For us,” he says, “about 800 square feet is ideal. That’s just big enough to have proper displays and provide enough room to move freely within the shop, and it keeps with the theme of welcoming and hosting our customers. Yet it’s small enough to keep merchandise and overhead costs to a minimum.”
No matter how big or small the footprint, current design trends put a huge new emphasis on organized, open layouts. Take, for example, the Eldorado Country Club in McKinney, Tex. Before it was remodeled, it was arranged as linear space, with columns of dry-wall splitting the shop. A long, solid interior wall stood across from a long exterior wall of windows.
But the remodel created a central corridor that was narrowed to allow freestanding displays, and the entire height of the inside wall was then used for more effective visual merchandising. As a result, Eldorado saw sales jump 50%.
Selling Your Wares
At the same time new design approaches are helping clubs use shop space more efficiently, there is also a trend toward improving the level and range of merchandise quality, by showing expanded lines. As part of this new emphasis on boutique-style presentation, the execution of this strategy seeks to make shops more “visually sophisticated.”
Cardinal G&CC, for example, now sections its brands, to build brand loyalty. And at Eldorado CC, where displays were once confined to the back of the shop and folded apparel was not split up by type, everything is now compartmentalized by gender, brands and styles.
“A new emphasis,” says one shop design consultant, “is being placed on providing highly flexible and moveable display fixtures, to facilitate the reorganization of the displays and make it easier to rotate merchandise to stimulate shoppers’ interest. In this way, a shop can increase the quality of merchandise and offer more complete ‘color stories and collections’ that encourage sales, by illustrating how merchandise ‘fits’ together.”
More attention is also being paid to moving displays around so that new merchandise can be highlighted as it comes in. “We use displays on the periphery,” says Kittler. “We use nesting tables, which can be consolidated within one another, to showcase new arrivals.”
Just as importantly, all of the displays and tables have a uniform look. “[Before] we had different display tables and racks that we purchased through different companies,” says Cardinal’s Stratton. “Nothing matched.”
One of the more striking transformations is how hats have been organized in Cardinal’s shop. When the store was more cluttered, hats were scattered randomly, and few shoppers picked them up. Now, with a specific, grooved-wall display, more than 250 hats are neatly stacked, and Stratton has noticed a clear increase in sales. Mannequins, waterfall displays and a glass case showing off balls and gloves have also prompted more impulse buys, he reports.
At Haig Point Club, Cherry says his store has seen an increase of 20% in merchandise sales at the main entrance, just by switching from one big table to two smaller ones that now allow merchandise to be showcased more flexibly and tastefully.
The same effect has also helped in the Haig Point women’s section, where smaller tables are now used to allow shoppers to move around displays of separate collections more easily—an especially critical consideration when selling women’s wares.
Keeping the Back Room Front of Mind
Good buying habits are also important for effective shop organization, especially where storage is limited. As part of their new approach to shop design and management, many club and resort retailers are tightening inventories so there is little overflow, as they’ve learned that not over-purchasing is a key to keeping a store neat.
“One of the most common mistakes is overstocking,” says Haig Point’s Cherry, “as well as improper stocking. Some shops are so full, you have to literally pry shirts apart on racks, and your customers feel like they are tripping over and backing into merchandise every time they turn around.”
Comforting Touches
Beyond shelving, layout and design, attention to fixtures, colors and textures can add to the allure of a store and help customers feel warm, welcomed and encouraged to linger a little longer.
When Indian Spring Country Club in Boynton Beach, Fla., rebuilt and expanded its clubhouse in 2000, a 1,700 sq. ft. shop was included. A new highlight was a seating area positioned just inside the entrance, featuring an oversized leather couch and a television. Throughout the shop, elegant design touches that include fine wood fixtures, warmer colors and darker wood stains mirror a strong new trend in retail shops.
Similarly, Eldorado’s shop was transformed from tired to trendy by adding new ceiling tiles, accent lighting, flooring, granite counter tops and teak wood. And Cardinal G&CC changed its carpeting and paint and replaced old-style white slat walls with solid wood. Also, where previously the lighting washed the room out, as it shot out randomly from ill-placed cans in Cardinal’s ceiling, prominent lighting fixtures aimed strategically at the merchandise now help to guide customers’ eyes from one rack to the next.
“It’s good to consult with [interior] designers, because sometimes club members and club staffs are too conservative,” states McConnell Golf’s Kittler. ”The retail industry is rough—so if you’re not changing, you’re losing ground.”
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