Golf Galaxy business improvement opportunity

I emailed Golf Galaxy my idea to improvement their business opportunity a month ago but not hearing anything back from them. Please review my idea and any feedback welcome. If you think it's good idea, email Golf Galaxy so we can enjoy their service.

Launch monitor rental

Local Golf Galaxy currently charges $20 for launch monitor 30 minutes. I went to golf galaxy (used to be Golfsmith location) to used its service to get yardage on my new iron set. They have 6 hitting bays but nobody is using. I believe due to its price. I usually spend 1 hour at outdoor range with $10 bucket. If Golf Galaxy charge compatible price as outdoor range, $10 for 1 hour or 30 minutes, I would use their service more often specially cold or rainy days.

Or PGA super store have $200 practice membership for 1 year.

Used club selling with Carmax program

Since Golf galaxy, Golfsmith and Dick's sporting goods are same company, they must have millions used clubs in their inventory nationwide store. If they list their stock online and we can order them to ship to local store to try it out, they would dominate used club selling market with their inventory and Pre-Owned Club Exchange Policy. If buyer does not like to buy after test drive, they just pay for shipping cost just like carmax program. If buyer like to buy after test drive, they prorate the shipping cost that buyer paid during online order for shipping cost. I am willing to pay $5 shipping cost to try out a club. I know it's extra work for local manager (they have to take couple picture of used club and type in club spec into the system) but they will dominate used club selling market.

Lol ok

Hi BearBoy,

This is James Galaxy, CEO of Golf Galaxy. I love your ideas. Can we meet up for Starbucks to discuss?

Most of the used clubs are shipped out after a certain number of days at GG. They dont want to have the inventory just sitting around collecting dust, so they sell it off ASAP. Hence why you can go into a GG and see about 10 drivers and 8 sets of irons and that's usually about it. Plus the prices were outrageous once DSG took them over and you could buy a new one for a few bucks more.

I emailed Golf Galaxy my idea to improvement their business opportunity a month ago but not hearing anything back from them. Please review my idea and any feedback welcome. If you think it's good idea, email Golf Galaxy so we can enjoy their service.

 

Launch monitor rental

Local Golf Galaxy currently charges $20 for launch monitor 30 minutes. I went to golf galaxy (used to be Golfsmith location) to used its service to get yardage on my new iron set. They have 6 hitting bays but nobody is using. I believe due to its price. I usually spend 1 hour at outdoor range with $10 bucket. If Golf Galaxy charge compatible price as outdoor range, $10 for 1 hour or 30 minutes, I would use their service more often specially cold or rainy days.

Or PGA super store have $200 practice membership for 1 year.

 

Used club selling with Carmax program

Since Golf galaxy, Golfsmith and Dick's sporting goods are same company, they must have millions used clubs in their inventory nationwide store. If they list their stock online and we can order them to ship to local store to try it out, they would dominate used club selling market with their inventory and Pre-Owned Club Exchange Policy. If buyer does not like to buy after test drive, they just pay for shipping cost just like carmax program. If buyer like to buy after test drive, they prorate the shipping cost that buyer paid during online order for shipping cost. I am willing to pay $5 shipping cost to try out a club. I know it's extra work for local manager (they have to take couple picture of used club and type in club spec into the system) but they will dominate used club selling market.

A few problems with these ideas:

Launch monitor rental - GG started charging to deter people from taking advantage of the hitting bays for long periods of time without buying anything. The primary focus was not to sell it as a service as these bays are there to sell clubs.

Used club selling with Carmax program - GG is in the business of selling NEW equipment, not used. Trade-ins are a necessary evil (much like car dealers) and often times they take a loss on the trade-in to make a new sale. Most trade-ins from GG/Dicks end up being shipped to 3 balls golf/global golf. GG will not do anything to promote used sales as it takes away from new sales.

James Galaxy is no longer CEO of Golf Galaxy. Dicks Sporting Good bought golf galaxy so Dick is CEO of Golf Galaxy now.

My local GG has 100+ used clubs in stock but I guess not all same at different location. Yeah, I saw some used club has higher price tag than the brand new club. I guess they are not really interested in selling used club.

Most GG has 3-4 hitting bay but my local GG (it used to be Golfsmith) has 8 hitting bay (more like PGA SS' practice bay) and 2 demo hitting bay. Nobody using that large 8 bays and it's just waste of space. I wonder why they don't use more efficiently.

I guessed GG make huge profit on their used club business with lowest trade in value and highest resale price in market but guess not. I wonder how much profit they make selling new club.

I can't tell if this is serious or sarcastic.

I can't tell if this is serious or sarcastic.

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If you've ever met the manager at the Raleigh Golfsmith store you are talking about than you should know that guy wouldn't know a good idea if it bit him on the Word not allowed. That said I've gone in there and paid the $20 on more than one occasion when the weather was bad. To their credit they let me hit for as long as I wanted to and demo whatever I wanted, seemed like a fair deal.

Most of the used clubs are shipped out after a certain number of days at GG. They dont want to have the inventory just sitting around collecting dust, so they sell it off ASAP. Hence why you can go into a GG and see about 10 drivers and 8 sets of irons and that's usually about it. Plus the prices were outrageous once DSG took them over and you could buy a new one for a few bucks more.

This is the truth! Back in the day there were some steals at GG in the used department...now it's about $22 off the new price...

Most of the used clubs are shipped out after a certain number of days at GG. They dont want to have the inventory just sitting around collecting dust, so they sell it off ASAP. Hence why you can go into a GG and see about 10 drivers and 8 sets of irons and that's usually about it. Plus the prices were outrageous once DSG took them over and you could buy a new one for a few bucks more.

 

This is the truth! Back in the day there were some steals at GG in the used department...now it's about $22 off the new price...

There used to be deals at PGA SS and Golfsmith too, but they went away for whatever reason. When the PGA SS in Chicagoland came around the deals were good and you could find some good stuff here and there (along with some real head scratchers). Now the selection is getting smaller. I understand that they don't want to have the inventory, but having nothing is the opposite end of things. It could also be that you usually take a beating on trade-in and people are selling on here, the bay, or other sites for more money.

So you want them to charge you the same to use their 10K plus equipment to dial in your yardages as the range does using torn flags on rusty sticks with totally unreliable distance estimates and you haven't heard back from them? Try again man, I'm sure your genius is just floating around unread in a spam inbox.

The OP is willing to pay $5 shipping to try a used club. That's mighty big of him.

I emailed Golf Galaxy my idea to improvement their business opportunity a month ago but not hearing anything back from them. Please review my idea and any feedback welcome. If you think it's good idea, email Golf Galaxy so we can enjoy their service.

 

Launch monitor rental

Local Golf Galaxy currently charges $20 for launch monitor 30 minutes. I went to golf galaxy (used to be Golfsmith location) to used its service to get yardage on my new iron set. They have 6 hitting bays but nobody is using. I believe due to its price. I usually spend 1 hour at outdoor range with $10 bucket. If Golf Galaxy charge compatible price as outdoor range, $10 for 1 hour or 30 minutes, I would use their service more often specially cold or rainy days.

Or PGA super store have $200 practice membership for 1 year.

 

Used club selling with Carmax program

Since Golf galaxy, Golfsmith and Dick's sporting goods are same company, they must have millions used clubs in their inventory nationwide store. If they list their stock online and we can order them to ship to local store to try it out, they would dominate used club selling market with their inventory and Pre-Owned Club Exchange Policy. If buyer does not like to buy after test drive, they just pay for shipping cost just like carmax program. If buyer like to buy after test drive, they prorate the shipping cost that buyer paid during online order for shipping cost. I am willing to pay $5 shipping cost to try out a club. I know it's extra work for local manager (they have to take couple picture of used club and type in club spec into the system) but they will dominate used club selling market.

Dear Golf Galaxy,

I know it costs you $12 to ship a used club to my local store for me to try but I'd be willing to pay you $5.

I also know that you paid $15K for your launch monitor but I like to offer you $10 every hour and a half to use it.

I'd like to tell you you're welcome in advance for my great advice.

You're welcome again,

Bearboy

The OP is joking right?

I emailed Golf Galaxy my idea to improvement their business opportunity a month ago but not hearing anything back from them. Please review my idea and any feedback welcome. If you think it's good idea, email Golf Galaxy so we can enjoy their service.

 

Launch monitor rental

Local Golf Galaxy currently charges $20 for launch monitor 30 minutes. I went to golf galaxy (used to be Golfsmith location) to used its service to get yardage on my new iron set. They have 6 hitting bays but nobody is using. I believe due to its price. I usually spend 1 hour at outdoor range with $10 bucket. If Golf Galaxy charge compatible price as outdoor range, $10 for 1 hour or 30 minutes, I would use their service more often specially cold or rainy days.

Or PGA super store have $200 practice membership for 1 year.

 

Used club selling with Carmax program

Since Golf galaxy, Golfsmith and Dick's sporting goods are same company, they must have millions used clubs in their inventory nationwide store. If they list their stock online and we can order them to ship to local store to try it out, they would dominate used club selling market with their inventory and Pre-Owned Club Exchange Policy. If buyer does not like to buy after test drive, they just pay for shipping cost just like carmax program. If buyer like to buy after test drive, they prorate the shipping cost that buyer paid during online order for shipping cost. I am willing to pay $5 shipping cost to try out a club. I know it's extra work for local manager (they have to take couple picture of used club and type in club spec into the system) but they will dominate used club selling market.

 

A few problems with these ideas:

 

Launch monitor rental - GG started charging to deter people from taking advantage of the hitting bays for long periods of time without buying anything. The primary focus was not to sell it as a service as these bays are there to sell clubs.

 

Used club selling with Carmax program - GG is in the business of selling NEW equipment, not used. Trade-ins are a necessary evil (much like car dealers) and often times they take a loss on the trade-in to make a new sale. Most trade-ins from GG/Dicks end up being shipped to 3 balls golf/global golf. GG will not do anything to promote used sales as it takes away from new sales.

Trade ins are not a necessary evil in the car business.....Quite the opposite actually......In most cases, the dealer would much prefer taking a trade.

Will OP at least have the courtesy to give them a reach-around?

OP, don't mind the sarcastic comments. Probably from people who never had the guts to try anything business wise.

But, since you're dealing with a largish company, they can't easily make changes like the ones you're describing. They may consider it and even implement it but it would probably take a lot more than an email to get their attention. Write a letter addressed to the CEO or the chief of strategy or marketing.

Better yet, draw up a plan to capitalize on whatever hole in the market you see yourself. Maybe you can make a nice little business out of renting launch monitors or start a superior driving range yourself.

Did anyone consider the OP may be a "business owner"!

I emailed Golf Galaxy my idea to improvement their business opportunity a month ago but not hearing anything back from them. Please review my idea and any feedback welcome. If you think it's good idea, email Golf Galaxy so we can enjoy their service.

 

Launch monitor rental

Local Golf Galaxy currently charges $20 for launch monitor 30 minutes. I went to golf galaxy (used to be Golfsmith location) to used its service to get yardage on my new iron set. They have 6 hitting bays but nobody is using. I believe due to its price. I usually spend 1 hour at outdoor range with $10 bucket. If Golf Galaxy charge compatible price as outdoor range, $10 for 1 hour or 30 minutes, I would use their service more often specially cold or rainy days.

Or PGA super store have $200 practice membership for 1 year.

 

Used club selling with Carmax program

Since Golf galaxy, Golfsmith and Dick's sporting goods are same company, they must have millions used clubs in their inventory nationwide store. If they list their stock online and we can order them to ship to local store to try it out, they would dominate used club selling market with their inventory and Pre-Owned Club Exchange Policy. If buyer does not like to buy after test drive, they just pay for shipping cost just like carmax program. If buyer like to buy after test drive, they prorate the shipping cost that buyer paid during online order for shipping cost. I am willing to pay $5 shipping cost to try out a club. I know it's extra work for local manager (they have to take couple picture of used club and type in club spec into the system) but they will dominate used club selling market.

PGATSS charges $99 for a year membership for unlimited practice, 30 free regrips a yeae, and half off all club services. The kicker here is that PGATSS has hitting bays/simulators dedicated for customers to practice on. Golf Galaxy charges $20 an hour because they have limited bays. At the PGATSS in Scottsdale, there are 6 fitting bays, 2 instruction bays, and 7 bays dedicated to being rented for practice. It's easy to charge $10 for 30 min rental of a bay when you don't need those bays for fittings and making sales. So on golf galaxys side they could charge you $10 to rent a fitting bay for 30 minutes or possibly use that bay for a fitting and make $1000 in 30 min to an hour.

I am dead serious. You should look at my serious face :)

thanks for CRAP service offer but I don't need data service at this point.

Yes, I was at Raleigh Golfsmith store but my sale guy was with time watch behind me, no extra time for me :( I have been to the store at least 10 times since GG started LM rental but I never seen anyone using the service.

Yeah I saw an used club has higher price than new price few times lol

GG usually charge higher price than online stores because you can try them before buying and they have pretty good Pre-Owned Club Exchange Policy.

Yeah some range does have totally unreliable distance estimates. I check the distance with rangefinder if I go to a new range. I care less about torn flags on rusty sticks because the condition of flag and stick does not affect my ball flight.

I don't think GG paying same shipping cost like us. I work at medium size company and Fedex charges about half price of personal account. One time, I shipped using one of the biggest phone company account and I was surprise how much Fedex give discount for big company.

I don't think GG pay full price on their LM (correct me if I am wrong, I am not 100% sure on this). I believe GG get discount from LM company for advertisement purpose. but still LM cost money, probably $20 for 30min is fair price.

I agree. see how much Carmax grew up for last 10 years. but I guess GG makes much more margin on new clubs.

What do you mean by reach-around? Can you please elaborate?

Oh no, I am not a business guy at all. That's why I am getting weekly check :)

I guess my idea is horrible idea according to many responses. Lucky I am not a business owner

I been to PGATSS at myrtle beach, SC and I envied their practice service. My local GG (used to be Golfsmith) also have 2 fitting bays, 3 instruction bays (Golftech), and 8 bays setup for practice so I was hoping something like PGATSS' practice membership.

Topic cleaned up.

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Consider this fair warning.

James Galaxy is no longer CEO of Golf Galaxy. Dicks Sporting Good bought golf galaxy so Dick is CEO of Golf Galaxy now.

 

My local GG has 100+ used clubs in stock but I guess not all same at different location. Yeah, I saw some used club has higher price tag than the brand new club. I guess they are not really interested in selling used club.

 

Most GG has 3-4 hitting bay but my local GG (it used to be Golfsmith) has 8 hitting bay (more like PGA SS' practice bay) and 2 demo hitting bay. Nobody using that large 8 bays and it's just waste of space. I wonder why they don't use more efficiently.

 

I guessed GG make huge profit on their used club business with lowest trade in value and highest resale price in market but guess not. I wonder how much profit they make selling new club.

Ummm, you know Dick Stack has been dead for years, right?

It would cost millions of dollars to implement the used club system plus more to maintain it. Not sure if spending millions to make a few bucks on used while hurting new sales would be in a company's best interest.

I am sorry if I violated the forum rule. Thanks for fair warning.

I didn't know Dick Stack has passed. Just learned Edward Stack, his son, succeeded him from wiki.

wow, millions of dollars. no wonder why GG trying to get out of used club business.

I sure hope my golf galaxy doesn't start charging. It used to be a golfsmith and has 4 bays.

I would like the option to rent them out and try my own clubs though.

They'd rather leave a bay open and potentially sell 3k worth of equipment to a customer than rent it out to you for $10 and maybe make $5 when you buy that used R580 driver.

There's no money in used clubs for golf businesses. They only do it as a service. Necessary evil if you will.

They'd rather leave a bay open and potentially sell 3k worth of equipment to a customer than rent it out to you for $10 and maybe make $5 when you buy that used R580 driver.

 

There's no money in used clubs for golf businesses. They only do it as a service. Necessary evil if you will.

Actually, that depends on how you look at it. From a total sales perspective, you are right. Used equipment is smaller peanuts, no question. But when you look at the margin, used is far superior to new. The mark up on used is Keystone, so 100%. On new stuff, it's only like 30-40% tops. Now the used stuff will usually be sold for a smaller margin, but most clubs still realize at least a 70% margin, which is awesome.

They'd rather leave a bay open and potentially sell 3k worth of equipment to a customer than rent it out to you for $10 and maybe make $5 when you buy that used R580 driver.

 

There's no money in used clubs for golf businesses. They only do it as a service. Necessary evil if you will.

 

Actually, that depends on how you look at it. From a total sales perspective, you are right. Used equipment is smaller peanuts, no question. But when you look at the margin, used is far superior to new. The mark up on used is Keystone, so 100%. On new stuff, it's only like 30-40% tops. Now the used stuff will usually be sold for a smaller margin, but most clubs still realize at least a 70% margin, which is awesome.

Again... 30% of $3,000 is greater than 100% of $200.

I emailed Golf Galaxy my idea to improvement their business opportunity a month ago but not hearing anything back from them. Please review my idea and any feedback welcome. If you think it's good idea, email Golf Galaxy so we can enjoy their service.

 

Launch monitor rental

Local Golf Galaxy currently charges $20 for launch monitor 30 minutes. I went to golf galaxy (used to be Golfsmith location) to used its service to get yardage on my new iron set. They have 6 hitting bays but nobody is using. I believe due to its price. I usually spend 1 hour at outdoor range with $10 bucket. If Golf Galaxy charge compatible price as outdoor range, $10 for 1 hour or 30 minutes, I would use their service more often specially cold or rainy days.

Or PGA super store have $200 practice membership for 1 year.

 

Used club selling with Carmax program

Since Golf galaxy, Golfsmith and Dick's sporting goods are same company, they must have millions used clubs in their inventory nationwide store. If they list their stock online and we can order them to ship to local store to try it out, they would dominate used club selling market with their inventory and Pre-Owned Club Exchange Policy. If buyer does not like to buy after test drive, they just pay for shipping cost just like carmax program. If buyer like to buy after test drive, they prorate the shipping cost that buyer paid during online order for shipping cost. I am willing to pay $5 shipping cost to try out a club. I know it's extra work for local manager (they have to take couple picture of used club and type in club spec into the system) but they will dominate used club selling market.

I'll bite as the employee of a big box store that is similar to GS/GG/DSG, so hopefully my responses can shed some light from the other side of the coin. We are a medium-sized store, about 25-30,000 square feet, 4 hitting bays in an enclosed area (ala a simulator) and 2 open air ones where we primarily do our fittings. Both enclosed and open are used for fittings and for trials depending on how busy we are. I would say our average sales goal per day is around $10-12,000. I'm not really sure if that is big or small, but bear in mind, we are in Canada, so we have a truncated season compared to many of you in the Southern US and other parts of the globe.

Point 1 ---- Launch Monitor Rentals. Using your store as an example with 6 bays, let's say everyone has the same idea to come in and spend $10 for 30 minutes. All 6 bays are used, and you have 6 more guys waiting to go in, as it is raining and they don't care to wait another 15 minutes. Now you walk in, and you have been eyeing a set of new irons, and today is the day you are going to pull the trigger. The other guys have already paid for their sim time and are just queuing up waiting. Now you are going to have wait 45 minutes just to get fit for your irons. Maybe you wanted to try the difference between the KBS, Dynamic Gold, and Project X shafts to see which is best for you. Maybe this salesperson has never seen you in here before and they don't know how keen you are. Now from the store's perspective it comes down to a situation of who's money means more to you? Is it the guy who is going to drop $1000 on a set of irons and maybe you never see him again for 10 years, OR is it the guy who maybe comes twice a week, every week and plays for 30 minutes and then goes away? Both come to be about $1000. So who's money is more important? Who do you risk upsetting? Maybe the guy who rents the sim twice a week buys a shirt, some balls, some tees, some shoes, and the odd club here and there, maybe the guy who bought the irons becomes so impressed with the service and the help he got that he becomes a regular. The truth is, you just don't know. Maybe the happy medium is rent out 3 for trying clubs/fitting, and the other 3 are used for sim golf/as a driving range. You can't win, you are always going to have someone upset because they have to wait even though they paid their $20, you are always going to have someone upset that it is 30 minutes, and not an hour, you are always going to have someone upset that they have to wait to be fitted. To be perfectly honest, GG has a policy in place right now where they are doing exactly as you outlined: rent out the sim for some time for some money. You just don't agree with the price. I don't see how this is a business improvement opportunity when they are cutting their prices down by 50% just because one person observes that sometimes when they go in the store is empty and you want to hit balls but don't want to go out and freeze/get wet but also don't want to spend $20. You just want it to suit your needs better.

Point 2 --- The Used Club "Demo" Program. First thing, they are going to point out is that you can demo them in the simulator. I will jump in here and say that depending on the launch monitor used, they are just as accurate as hitting outdoors and provide more information. We use the GC2, which is widely regarded as the best indoor launch monitor you can buy. Can hitting on a range tell you launch angle, spin, club path and descent angle? No. So they, as would I, argue that hitting in a simulator to get your actual numbers is going to be more beneficial than renting it for a day or two at the shipping cost and then you get charged the full amount if the club isn't returned in 15 days or whatever. This brings me to my biggest issue. It is a logistical NIGHTMARE to do this. You have to have a team of employees inspecting the condition of the used clubs coming back to make sure they are in the same condition as when they went out. What happens if I put a paint chip on it? Does the club become mine even if I absolutely hate it? Also, my perception of condition of clubs is vastly different from yours, and the next guys. Take a quick look through a lot of the B/S/T disputes and talk of Callaway PreOwned and you'll see guys that claim anything at the Very Good level and above should come with plastic wrap on the heads, while others are happy to get a set of clubs that are barely functional. Who's to say that I even put that sky mark on it? Maybe the guy before me did it and the intern you hired to catalogue it just said screw it and didn't log it because they hate their job and figure it was someone else's problem? What happens if the post office in my area goes on strike and I can't get my club returned in time? Now i have to battle on the phone for an hour to get my refund and prove that I shipped it out on time to make it back before the deadline and wasn't trying to abuse the system by trying to milk an extra week free of demo time. Secondly, where is all of this used stuff going? You say that they charge you the shipping, so I am assuming it is not in store. Was your post not about KEEPING used in the store level to try? So why would shipping it out to a central location improve your shopping experience at the store level if you don't have any used to shop? Lastly, as someone else said, used clubs are a necessary evil. We take our clubs on trade and ship them out to another 3rd party. We don't want ANYTHING to do with them. Why would I want to sell a used Big Bertha 2014 driver for $125 when I can sell a new XR '16 driver for ~$300 with our trade-in promotion?

I admire you for taking the time to voice your concerns, but I do not think they are easily applied at such a large level.

The golf chain store as we know it is a dying breed. With places like BST on this forum and ebay, the used club market is extremely over saturated from companies pushing out 2-3 drivers a year and multiple iron sets. I recently walked into Edwin Watts in Alabama and was literally the only person in the store. They had 1 fitting bay and all of about 4 drivers to pick from and a few woods and irons, pretty pathetic. Golf Galaxy is okay, but anybody with half a brain is going to use the free demo bay to take a few swings, then go self fit on range/course. Using ebay to dump unused shafts/heads for nearly no loss is making the "paid" demo time totally useless for guys like me who pretty much know what they already need. The guys who truly need/want a custom fitting go to the small private places or their home course (if applicable) and pay more money, but get 100% proper fit. I've done "paid" fittings at chain stores, and it was a complete joke. Almost wanted to leave half way through I was so unsatisfied.

Never buy new or pay retail for anything in golf, unless you know it's staying in your bag for many years to come or you have the money to sell it down the road for about a 70% loss. Buy used, sell if it doesn't fit, and skip retail stores at all costs.