CLICK HERE to listen.In Episode #37 of Golf Gear News, host Bruce Stasch reports at The Newstand on
Ex-NFL Kicker is Now a Caddie, and
John Daly's Wife Attacks Him.
In the State of the Game we read about
Sound Patents.
In She Golfs Too Dear Abby Gets into the Action and
Dakoda Dowd's Mother Dies.Component Corner explores the
The Expanding Non-Conforming Driver World. In Why Can't We All Get Along, there are some
New Trademarks on the Horizon.
Finally, Golf of the Weird hears about
Golf Clubs Used in Late Night 3-Car Crime.
As always, our show is sponsored by
Golfknockoff.com.
Check out our new
Media Kit.
Labels: Callaway, Dick's Sporting Goods, Equipment, John Daly, Karsten Manufacturing, Michelle Wie, Nike, Podcast, Retailing
CLICK HERE to listen.In Episode #36 of Golf Gear News, host Bruce Stasch reports at The Newstand on
Pro Athletes Who Are Golfers,
Wie Will Concentrate on the LPGA, and
Maxfli Kills Daly Ad.In the State of the Game we read about
The Cost of Endorsements and She Golfs Too introduces
Lady With 10 Holes-in-One.The Guru rants about the
Idiocy of Draw Drivers & Moveable Weights.We find that Callaway Gets Caught in Non-Conforming Web, and Golf of The Weird learns how to
The Compute Odds of One Women's 10 Holes-in-One.Finally, at Website Spotlight, check out the legal website
Golf Patents.As always, our show is sponsored by
Golfknockoff.com.
Check out our new
Media Kit.
Labels: Callaway, Equipment, Golfweek, Michelle Wie, Moveable Weights, Podcast
What is 2nd Swing Up to Now!!!
Like the Phoenix rising from the ashes,
2nd Swing is back in business. According to a feature story in my local paper
Star Tribune, the new 2nd Swing has got one store open in Minneapolis and a second is slated to open in Minnetonka on April 2nd.
Before the internet, eBay and sites like
www.callawaypreowned.com, 2nd Swing had a lock on the used golf equipment market. But it didn’t last long. To keep ahead, 2nd Swing added new equipment to it offerings and expanded like mad until it had opened more than 50 stores. As quickly as it grew, it also added debt at an alarming rate. By the summer of 2006, the chain was gone. A victim of overzealous expansion and $10 million in debt.
According to the article, founder Simon Kallal is back in the saddle again as well as much of his original management
"Kallal and a group of five other investors stepped in earlier this year and bought 2nd Swing's intellectual rights for $50,000. The purchase gave them the right to use 2nd Swing's name, logo, website, software and customer database consisting of more than 250,000 names."As well as wash its hands of any misdeeds, missteps or screw ups by previous management.
I wrote a posting in early September that
the company had been liquidated and 17,700 customers with credit balances got screwed. Well, things haven’t changed. If you check the website
www.2ndswing.com, they already have a disclaimer that says
"If you are seeking information regarding the old 2nd Swing, including credit or gift card balance redemption, please seek claims through the bankruptcy court. All balances were handled through the closing of the company. Zero balances were transferred to the new 2nd Swing." Let’s do some math. If we make the assumption that the average credit balance was only $50, then 2nd Swing was able to dump $885,000 worth of credits for only $50K ($50/customer X 17,700/customers = $885,000).
Meaning, tough luck Mr. Former Customer.
Although they have modest goals this time around, I don’t believe that the new 2nd Swing has any more chance of being successful as did the old one. The company is going back into the used golf equipment market when the market stinks. Real growth in golf equipment hasn’t occurred for six years and doesn’t look to do so very soon.
One of the chain’s former rivals,
Golf Galaxy, was quoted in the
Star Tribune article as saying
"the pie isn't any bigger than it was a year ago," said Randy Zanatta, chief executive of Golf Galaxy.
"It's all a market-share game, now. It's about how big of a slice you can get." Now owned by Dick’s Sporting Goods, in 2003 Golf Galaxy sold almost no used clubs. Now they represent 7 to 8 percent of the chain's overall business.
In addition, the threat of used equipment showing up on eBay and all over the Internet is very real. One online retailer I spoke with said that he buys directly from Titleist, TaylorMade and others and sees new equipment show up on eBay at retail for less than he pays for it at wholesale. Also, online websites like those operated by Callaway and others sell used or refurbished equipment, thereby competing with companies like 2nd Swing. When they first opened in 1996, none of these competitive factors existed. Today, all of them combine to make this a much different market than before.
For a paltry $50K, 2nd Swing gets to rise again and hopefully, not get themselves into the same mess as before. I remain a big skeptic.
Labels: 2nd Swing, Callaway, Dick's Sporting Goods, Equipment, Golf Galaxy, Minnesota, Retailing, TaylorMade
CLICK HERE to listen.In Episode #31 of Golf Gear News, host Bruce Stasch reports at The Newstand that
Wie is Out for Month with Injury,
Hockey Wants to Emulate Golf and
TaylorMade-Adidas Inks Deal with Chinese.
In the Perfect Fit section we learn about the
R & A's Ruling on Iron U-Grooves.
The Guru Commentary asks the question
Is TaylorMade Losing It's Edge to the Square Driver? She Golfs Too explores
About.com's Top 50 Female Golfers List and Golf Around the World visits Colorado and the
Newest Ice Golf Course.
In Can't We All Get Along a
Golfer is Wanted in Course Vandalism and Golf of the Weird reports on the
Golf Novel That Predicts the Future and the
Only Par-4 Hole on the PGA Tour.
Our Website Spotlight is
Sweet Wood Golf Company.
As always, our show is sponsored by
Golfknockoff.com.
Check out our new
Media Kit.
Labels: China, Equipment, golf, Michelle Wie, Moveable Weights, Podcast, Square Drivers, TaylorMade, Women's Golf
Why Do I Care What Bag the Pros Play?
I got my daily e-mail from Golf Press Association. It is basically a regurgitation of the press releases they receive from equipment, apparel and marketing companies. I accept that. Sometimes these e-mails even contain some interesting announcements.
What I don't get is why I would care that in the recent AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, "6 of the 20 finishers at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, including the runner up relied on Izzo to carry their bags".
Izzo is a great golf bag. They come up with innovative designs, cool colors and have bags that are easy on the back. That's not my issue. Aside from the fact that it was a caddie that actually carried an Izzo bag for his pro, I wasn't aware that the bag that I put my clubs in is going to make me successful.
Is this a case of "the clothes make the man" or maybe a Venn diagram problem that we learned in math class: if everyone in my group has an Izzo bag, Izzo bags are cool, then that must mean that I'm cool because I carry an Izzo bag. I think this is a not so veiled attempted to generate publicity about a product that has absolutely nothing to do with success on the golf course.
Just another example at trying to garner some press exposure when you really don’t have something worthwhile to say.
Labels: Equipment, golf, Golf Press Association, Izzo
CLICK HERE to listen.In Episode #29 of Golf Gear News, host Bruce Stasch reports at The Newstand on
Wie's Acceptance to Stanford, The Tiger Index and
Tiger to be a Father.
In the Perfect Fit section we explore the Benefits of Custom-Fitted Golf Clubs.
The Guru Commentary rants about
What's the Deal with Pink Golf Clubs? Our police blotter in Why Can't We All Just Get Along discovers
Stolen Golf Clubs Worth $600K. Golf of the Weird tells about the 3rd Annual Fat Boy Open.
Our Website Spotlight is
Golf Movies.
As always, our show is sponsored by
Golfknockoff.com.
Check out our new
Media Kit.
Next time listen for the third installment with the Socrates of Golf - Duffer McDoughall Johansen.
Labels: Equipment, Michelle Wie, Tiger Woods, Weird Golf Stuff, Women's Golf
What's the Deal with Pink Golf Clubs?
It must have started with the baby blanket thing. Someone, in their infinite wisdom decided that boy babies should have a blue blanket and girls should have a pink one. Who was this idiot anyway and what does blue have to do with boys and pink with girls? Why couldn’t the color have been yellow for boys and green for girls? Or mauve and periwinkle?
Why are the covers of "chick lit" books all pink? If you wander down your local Barnes & Noble and stop in the Women’s Literature section, 75% of the books have pink on their covers. Have I just uncovered the secret subliminal marketing message that tells women that "if it ain’t pink, it ain’t for me?"
So I see this press release on
Accu-Length's new Pink golf clubs. "Once young girls start using these clubs they'll understand why LPGA star Paula Creamer feels that pink is her lucky color," says Accu-Length president & COO Rick Rutter. He goes on to say "the Accu-Length Pink Set was created to meet the demands of young girls who are becoming more and more interested in playing golf."
What demands? The burning desire of girls to have a set of pink golf clubs?
I know that Paula Creamer is all about pink. That's her shtick. Annika and Lorena do just fine without wearing pink.
The Pink Panther, who obviously is a male, is all pink. Also, fiberglass insulation is pink and that clearly isn't a "female" product. Yet Nair hair remover and Bic shavers are pink.
I don't think girls, or women for that matter, care is their golf clubs are pink, green, mauve or polka dots. What they do care about, like the other gender, is golf clubs that work.
We lament the fact that the golf industry has been in a slump. Rounds played are down, there is an oversupply of courses and equipment sales have been flat. Girls and women are one of the fastest growing segments in our anemic industry.
So what do those highly-paid marketing executives at major golf club companies do to innovate and reach out to one of the fastest growing segments of the playing population? They paint their golf clubs pink. Some cutting-edge forward-thinking minds here.
Can't marketers come up with better ideas than a paint job? Please, give me a break from this pink-mania and come up with some REAL marketing innovation.
Labels: Accu-Length, Equipment, golf, LPGA, Women's Golf
Why Are Golfers So Gullible?
Many will say that "perceived" product innovation drives the golf club market each year. Knowing that, gullible golfers still wait in line to be the first to turn over their money and buy the latest, hottest or most advanced product on the market today.
So, shouldn't it seem ridiculous to Mr. Gullible Golfer that Callaway, the big daddy of equipment, is coming out in 2007 with another "ultimate performance driver based purely on physics?" Obviously not.
I'm not picking on Callaway specifically, but all the equipment manufacturers out there. It used to be that once a year, around October, we'd get to see the unveiling of each company’s new line of golf clubs. Now, we see the cycle repeat itself every six months.
If I may, please refer to Exhibit A: the
Callaway Fusion FT-i 460cc Driver.
Now how is this one different than the others? Wow! It's got a square rear end. And it will come out at $599. Nike is going to have one too!! Last year it was screw weights, first introduced by Taylor Made, now its square butts.
As each new driver hits the market, the manufacturer mentions all the folks that are testing it on tour. Then they talk about the "performance enhancements", "breakthrough technology" and the "unprecendented amount of pre-orders". In the meantime, Mr. Gulllible is salivating at the prospect of getting his hand on one of these. If someone wins with it (perhaps an Annika or Phil), then it becomes the hottest seller....for a while.
Let's see, since 2002, Callaway has introduced the Great Big Bertha, Great Big Bertha II, Big Bertha 454, Fusion, Fusion FT-3, X 460, and now the Fusion FT-i. That’s seven new drivers in FIVE years. With an average sticker price of $399, Mr. Gullible would have needed to spend $2793 to keep up with the Jones since 2002.
That doesn't even include the new $899 set of irons, the $179 putter, the two $149 fairway woods, a $119 hybrid or the $42 Pro V1 golf balls Mr. Gullible’s needed to keep current.
I'm not faulting Callaway. I’m faulting Mr. Gullible the consumer. Instead of actually taking lessons to improve one's game or even playing more than twice a month, Mr. Gullible wants the club to do all the work. Just think, at $125/lesson, he could have 16 lessons with a pro and still have money left over to buy that Callaway FT-i when it shows up on eBay three months later for only $299.
Isn't there a point when a golfer has too many clubs or are we all just gullible equipment-buying fools?
Labels: Callaway, Equipment, Moveable Weights, TaylorMade
