Golf Smith is actively seeking new buyers, and Chapter 11 according to Bloomberg Report.
I knew they were heading into the rough when they abandoned the segment which they dominated for decades and tried to get into other more competitive fields of clothing, attire, and OEM equipment. This might have speed up the downward slide.
Really not a shocker but sad to see another one fading away..
Okay, whomever hit that damn SuperBall, needs to consider getting this outfit. Just revert back to the old business model and trim down the excess weight until the industry revive , in about 6-11 years.
Keeping it afloat is not as difficult if one has good revolving credit.
Didn't Golftown buy them a already, more than a year ago?
mcavoy So it's another case of "blame Canada"?
nah, they sucked before the buyout
LOL
I still have a couple of beauty emails from their customer service dept that I read for laughs once in a while.
ahhh, the good old days...
not sure why they bought them
you can order Snake Eyes apparel online and they have some other clothes and golf gloves of that brand in store as well.
you can order heads, although that seems to be diminishing quickly and you can also order clubmaking supplies
otherwise, I don't see the benefits in general.
as for me, I buy the gloves as they are the cheapest, unless Footjoy has two for one Weathersofts on sale.
Most of us on the front lines - the amateurs who experience firsthand the waning interest of the game in general several years ago - saw this coming. This isn't the end times for the game, the end of golf. It is simply a correction taking place, a niche sport that marveled the historic presence of Tiger Woods around the same time the global economy was thriving, suddenly not having those factors to lean on any longer.
It was never going to last, however.
Titleist (Acushnet, owned by Fortune Brands) cut their losses 5 years ago, now managed and run by Fila corporation from South Korea. A couple years later - Dick's Sporting Goods announces that they're cutting a significant amount of PGA staff (500+) from their retail stores and business model... Golf courses, on a monthly basis, are closing gates because they can't see a time in the near future when the 30%, who've decided that the game is both time-consuming and expensive and quit the game probably won't take it up again until they've either got their kids through school or retired.
Edwin Watts - one of the biggest retailers/online conglomerates, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Adidas decides they're no longer in a position to counter their TM golf division losses, and decide to put it on the market for the next sucker to take over. Nike, who for a very long time rode the coattails of Woods and McIlroy as their marquee sponsors - pulling the plug because they can no longer justify the financial liabilities because, quite literally, they're not selling enough golf clubs and equipment.
And now - Golfsmith - one of the most well-known golf retail businesses in the past 20 years, who probably has one of the more reputable online businesses - filing bankruptcy.
Again - this is stuff that most of us who've stuck with the game over the past 15 years saw coming. Some of these companies threw caution to the wind and went all-in, cashing in all of their chips on the hopes that despite the global economic recession - people would put their child's education, their monthly mortgages and retirement on the back burner because of this false perception that the game was more popular than it was in reality.
It's no less sad that the game has returned to the late-80's level of interest, for sure... I know several people personally who've been impacted. A close friend (who bought out a local golf store and took ownership) in the early 2000's lasted all of 5 seasons, before eBay and big-box retailers put the whammy on him. I know of at least 15 people, from two different clubs, who've lost jobs because of course closures and lack of interest. I talked to a teaching pro yesterday at the grocery, who is an excellent teacher with quite the resume, and works at a popular facility nearby, who admitted that his lessons are down 40% this year and he's been forced to consider finding a new line of work.
It is 2016, not 2004. A lot can happen in a dozen or so years, and despite the enormous odds of that type of interest eventually waning - hardly anyone wanted to accept it.
The fact of the matter is that golf is once again a niche sport, enjoyed by the few of us fortunate enough to have the time and means to continue affording it.
I kinda like in the 80's
Golf courses were not crowded with obnoxious new golfers not observing the common courtesy.
Green fees were more affordable back then, it seemed.
We have two Golfsmith stores in the Tampa Bay Fl. area. One in Tampa (Lutz) and one in Clearwater. Also have two Edwin Watts (Palm Harbor and Tampa) which was bought by Worldwide Golf a couple years ago. They also own Roger Dunn Golf Shops in California and Hawaii, the Golf Mart in California, Vans Golf Shops in Arizona, Uinta Golf Shops in Utah and the Golfers’ Warehouse chain in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
IMO Edwin Watts now has the best playability (return) warranty which is 90 days no questions asked. You get 100% credit exchange for something else. I don't deal with Ebay anymore because of this return policy and you know it's not a fake. Golfsmith offers something similar in response to Edwin Watts policy. Hope Golfsmith survives like Edwin Watts has.
I go to a Golfsmith in Columbus, Oh, b/c it's near where my daughter lives. They used to stock a large supply of lightly used clubs, and I would buy 1 from time to time. I notice that they are stocking a lot less lately however, and the traffic in there seems a lot less since a brand new huge Golf Galaxy opened up right down the street. So I'm
not surprised to read this. GS has seemed to be on the decline for the last few years.....
Golfsmith has been off my radar for probably 15 years.
The last time I was there they pulled several shafts.
When I picked them up all the driver heads were in one plastic bag, and of course the crowns were scratched by the hosels contacting the crown of another head.
I then bought a shaft puller and have not been back or purchased anything from them.
Our local Golf Smith closed it's door some years ago.
I had purchased component from them back when they still carry the load of it. Last time I ordered some shafts from the G.S. and 8 months later got a notice that I owe them money because they did not charge my purchase 8 months ago. I was surprised but paid up after confirming the original balance was not charged to my credit card.
No business from me since that day.
Just dealt with Edwin Watts while on vaca in SC. They seem revived. It was a really good shopping experience. +1 on the 90 day playability deal.
I'm actually happy that some local brick and mortar store is doing well again.
Our local golf equipment stores had not seen the glory days from the 90's for years. They have business just not the same as it used to be, now only 2 major player exist in multiple cities. I'd imagine the business would be even tighter when the retail price goes up again after the major players relaxed on price competition,
Higher equipment price and staggering economic plus the shrinking of the middle class. Tougher time for the industry is here. Hope it won't get any worse.
If the trend continues you will be back to the late 80's with Taylor Made, Callaway, Ping and Titleist as the only options in most places, maybe Cobra hangs on and Mizuno will live through the Japanese market. Gone will be the days of great new companies and other little guys that always have good stuff.
The one POSSIBLE benefit, if major retailers give up, the proshop model might make a come back.
Our local store since 1945 http://www.puetzgolf.com/, lived through different partnership, ownership and financial crisis. It's still around and have a loyal following. It's there before the super mega retail stores, and after the internet stores. In fact they are tapping into the internet sales to supplement their income.
Another one is ProGolf Discount . A late comer and had retracted from Inter State operation in the 90's back to our region only.
With these two brick and mortar retail chain stores , most others could not share a piece of the pie from the local market. Golf Smith came and gone, Nevada Bob's came and gone,,,,,,,,,,,,Yes, smaller outfit could survive if they could find a niche for more personal service but unlikely.
The golf industry is slowing down as a whole for years, some in the business still would not face the music and dance but it's already here and hard to ignore the facts. Not only the golf industry but many other non-essential to the basic will also suffer retraction of market.
A bit different this time is, even the fast food industry is influence by the economy. Usually during the economic retraction these would be one of the few industry still growing but the new trend is for consumers to discover the home cooking. For saving from eating out and other reason for better health maintenance.
The families making good income still spends like no tomorrow. I see all those exotic automobiles on the roadway with new temporary license and the mushroom up of the new industry of prepared meals delivered to your home for a "home cooked" meal. Trending is catering to those top 10% of the income level.
The mass middle class of yester years still shrinking , this is where the golf industry lose the majority of the golfers whom joined up in the 80's and the 90's. I don't see the golf industry back to the glory days without the support from the middle class which is not moving up but sliding down in the financial ladder.
So back to the topic of the thread, no, personally I don't see the component golf coming back because of the change in the OEM make up. There is simply, can't squeeze anything out of a rock.
I see the decline of the golf component industry has many cause.
The millennium generation is a generation of disposable generation, in that, they use stuff and throw it in the dumpster, they either not interested in fixing things for reuse or do not know how. A generation growing up had things handed to them on the silver plate. Their logic path is the search the internet and trust what they had found with other's opinion.
My father's generation and my own will fix things up not just to save money but it's a joy of seeing the continuing service of older equipment. Younger generation will Google the pricing and dispose of the older equipment simply because it's "cost effective", even when the older equipment were still functioning.
Also they are counting on "help" from the government and the family members to get them through tough times.
The joy of tinkering with golf components is not just saving a few buck in the old days. The joy of making something and believing it's superior to the off the shelf stuff was a big factor for golfers to learn the basic of golf club making. It's too much work for the majority of younger golfer and it's " not cost effective" and does not work for "show and tell" to their peer. OEM name brand sparking better, like the Titleist golf balls are the best because it's the most expensive and a lot of professional golfers endorsed it.
Unless the OEM equipment turn higher price point, the golf component world will stay quiet for a long time.
Golfsmith has over $200 million in loans, be it from vendors, lease agreements, etc. Bankruptcy protection might not be enough given the stature of their debt. As a result, rumors are flying that Dick's Sporting Goods might be posturing to make an offer to purchase the US-based territories in the coming weeks. Dick's stock increased 2.4% immediately following the announcement that Golfsmith was filing for bankruptcy.
My overall take on the matter: Dick's would be assuming a lot of risk, placing a lot of eggs in the interest-is-sure-to-increase basket with absolutely no data suggesting otherwise. I mean - it's one thing to make a sizable investment knowing that the risks could at the very least be offset in the short-term while waiting for the silver lining to reveal itself longterm, but again - there's essentially no reliable proof anywhere that suggests this to be the case. After all - it was less than two years ago when Dick's announced they too were in the downsizing mode, cutting over 500 PGA professionals from their staff and since then nothing has changed, except more companies getting out of the hard-goods business.
As appealing as the potential buy-out might appear in theory, Dick's would be wise to pay more attention to the sobering market data.
If, of course, there is any truth to the rumors going around....
