Association of Golf Merchandisers (AGM) Announces Its 2006 National Front 9 Merchandising Awards
It was David Rockefeller who said, "Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were." The winners of the 2006 Association of Golf Merchandiser’s (AGM) Front 9 Merchandising Awards have certainly taken opportunity by the tail and with training, hard work and discipline, made their golf shops a model for those around the country.
The Association of Golf Merchandisers is a professional association of golf-related vendors and professional merchandisers located all over the world. Headquartered in Arizona, AGM is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization founded in 1989 and governed by a 19-member volunteer Board of Directors. According to Desane Blaney, AGM Executive Director, their mission is to "educate the golf retail buyers/merchandisers and golf professionals, elevate the golf merchandising profession, and enhance communication between golf buyers and vendor partners." Today, more than 850 individuals representing private, public, resort and off-course golf specialty stores as well as 150 vendor partners are active members of the AGM. The Front 9 awards were designed to recognize those merchandisers whose work and ideas are creative, inventive, successful and profitable. The categories are as follows:
â?¢ Merchandiser of the Year AGM Top Retailer
â?¢ Successful Visual Display
â?¢ Sales Promotion Idea
â?¢ Innovative Store Design and/or Prop
â?¢ Merchandising Event
â?¢ Staff Training/Incentive
â?¢ Customer Service Idea
â?¢ Best Merchandising Strategy in a Classification
â?¢ Best Overall Merchandising Strategy
This year, the AGM had a tie for Merchandiser of the Year Top Retailer, with Leigha Main and Lauren Dimen- Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada tying with Melissa Dempsey at the Stow Acres Country Club in Stow, Massachusetts.
Successful Visual Display Winner- Stephen Cryan & Laura Robinson- Pinehurst Resort, Pinehurst, North Carolina. With Breast Cancer Awareness an important passion and cause for the resort & employees, these two created a joint effort with their membership and community. Using their main display window and key locations throughout the shop, they created a pink and white theme that was not only beautiful to look at, but created a passion with their customers. With a recipe of goods including Imperial headwear, Titleist balls and Angela Moore jewelry, the displays were stunningly gorgeous. Through the displays and a careful selection of fundraising merchandise, their shops raised over $10,000 to help fight this deadly disease.
Sales Promotion Idea Winner – Kevin & Ardie Cashman- Bearpath Golf and Country Club in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. "Successful promotions are the lifeblood of our merchandising!" says Merchandise Manager Ardie Cashman. With Bearpath’s 10th Anniversary in 2006, the mother/son Cashman duo put on a 10th Anniversary celebration & party like no other. Custom golf ball dozens along with headwear and other merchandise items were adorned with "celebrate the Bear" and they threw a party like no other. With activities like a dunk tank, bingo, face painting, inflatables and a delicious food line-up, it had a big result. Every single garment that was purchased with the anniversary logo was sold and the themed merchandise accounted for over $40,000 of their event’s sales. They entertained almost 1,000 people at the party and are already looking forward to their next ten-year celebration!
Innovative Store Design and/or Prop- Sharie Racine- Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock, Colorado. With limited floor space in their 1100 square foot golf shop, it was a challenging request for Racine and her team to add sales categories without adding bulky fixtures. But with a desire to capitalize on sales from parents and grandparents of children’s apparel, they found the perfect converted fixture with an original 1919 Hartman Steamer Trunk. It held logo’d apparel, teddy bears, toddler-safe golf clubs, children’s bath products & infant blankets. Their $150 investment for the price of the trunk and three foot selling space generated $2100 per square foot in revenue for over $6300 in children’s apparel sales for the year, increasing their children’s business by 36%.
Merchandising Event Winner- Debbie Basso and Paige Ashworth- Golf Management Solutions in The Villages, Florida. These two extremely creative ladies created a custom Burton golf bag for their Palmer Legends Country Club that had all 8 of their club’s logos on it along with the Villages master logo. On a single day they held a promotion where their members could purchase this bag (of which they had made up only one) custom with their name on it for free (which they built into the cost of the bag.) After being promoted on their local radio station and their club newspaper, they took orders for 102 of these bags in a single day, creating nearly $18,000 in revenues with less than a $200 original investment in inventory. With Burton Bag management on staff education the custom to the benefits and features of the bag they were ordering, it was easy to see why their Burton Bag Day was a huge success.
Best Staff Training or Incentive Idea Winner- Angelyn Horrell- Four Seasons Resort & Club in Los Colinas, Texas. Golf has traditionally been an industry that has not paid directly for reaching sales goals. For most golf shops, it is easier going with the status quo than reinvent the wheel. But not so with Angelyn Horrell. After an extensive training sales blitz on Fall trends, product knowledge, sales training, they created a similar training marketing piece on Fall wardrobe trends that was given to the customer on the first tee. They identified a slow weekend from the previous year and set sales goals for each day and for the weekend. Each salesperson was given an overall and personal sales goal. If the incentive for each day was reached, they would receive $25 cash. If the overall goal was made for the weekend, they’d receive an additional $25, resulting in a potential bonus of $1000. Their sales team averaged over $1000 in sales each day of the incentive window, stretching them beyond their comfort zone and achieving results above the previous year!
Customer Service Idea Award AND Overall Merchandiser of the Year & Top Retailer- Melissa Dempsey- Stow Acres Country Club in Stow, Massachusetts. Every August, the Stow Acres Country Club plays host to The Memorial Golf Classic. The support for this 288 player event, which raises money for local charities and scholarships comes from their loyal regular customers. Typically, the event purchased a garment or gift item with the event logo on it to pass out to the participants. This year, however, Dempsey and her team promoted a special event-only gift card with personalized gift card holders, coordinated merchandise specials exclusive to the participants, extended hours for the event and additional staff members to assist on the sales floor. Not only were the redemption of gift cards at a higher dollar amount than the tee prizes, the customer received a more personalized gift, the tournament reduced the inventory at a time where inventory reduction is critical for the golf shop and most of their customer spend well beyond their gift card amount- stretching the tournament prize amount well beyond their 2005 numbers. It provided exceptional service and made a special day for the customer.
Best Merchandising Strategy in a Merchandise Classification AND Overall Merchandiser of the Year & Top Retailer – Leigha Main and Lauren Dimen- Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. With a 2005 decline in equipment sales due to the new presence of a local off-course retailer, Main and Dimen decided to re-commit the shop to proven strategies from the past and introduced new ones to gain back the market share lost in the last year. With a long successful partnership with Ping, they decided to leverage this brand and relationship to grow their business. Some of their strategies included, building a Ping concept wall in a prominent location in the shop, co-branding gloves and bags with their logo, hosting Sprinter van fitting days, off-season trips to the Ping fitting center with their top customers, three golf professional staff players, Ping branded hats for all of their caddies in the caddie program and Ping gloves as a gift to the members in their "welcome back" event after giving up the course for the PGA Tour event. As a result, they had a whopping 44% growth in their hard goods business due to this unique complete supplier partner integration.
Best Overall Merchandising Strategy Winner- Steve Seaman- The Cliffs Communities in Asheville, North Carolina – The Cliffs Communities made a dramatic shift in merchandising strategy early in 2006 to delivery a more "lifestyle brand" to all members with the addition of luxury merchandise from major national lifestyle brands as well as offering special events and a new level of customer service. After adding a full-time merchandiser to all four golf shops and a new Director of Retail position, the shops went beyond just golf apparel and equipment. Added seasonal luxury items were added like cashmere sweaters, designer luggage and luxurious robes. This "gift strategy" generated over $50,000 in additional sales during the holiday season alone. They upgraded their packaging with custom gift boxes and enhanced signage in all the golf shops and set new standards of "lifestyle merchandising." One of the golf shops created a "Gourmet Market" so members could experience the convenience of gourmet food items, wines and fine gifts. As a result, they have averaged more than a $2 per round increase in sales and have grown their business by 41% this year!
Contact: