Dick's Sporting Goods Fires In-Store Golf Pros

[jamo]

New ripple: Sports Authority - local store for years had 40' x 40' node with golf clubs - mostly SGI and boxed sets, majority of bags stacked 16 feet high in wall racks, and an 8 x 12 hitting bay (no electronics). Now, the store moved, and the new site has a golf section with more floor space than your average Dick's golf area. No hitting bay yet, but selection now equals what you would find at Dick's. Have any of you seen Sports Authority expansion in your area?

Actually, the opposite. The SA near me (probably like 10 years old, maybe a bit less) closed off the room they used to use as a hitting bay. It never had a simulator, but at least you could hit a ball or two. They got rid of the putting green, don't have a dedicated golf employee, and shrunk the golf section to half its original size (the other half is now tennis). They very seldom have current-year equipment these days. On the other hand, I've got two Dick's Sporting Goods near me, both with pretty sizable golf sections, though I have noticed that both are frequently understaffed and very often have their hitting bays completely roped off too. --------------- We've also got a Golfer's Warehouse and a bunch of Golfsmiths nearby. The Golfsmiths used to be Golf Town (a Canadian company that was making inroads into the US market starting in Massachusetts), until they were all purchased, so they're set up differently that all of the other Golfsmiths I've been to. I tend to gravitate towards the Golfer's Warehouse because they offer cash rather than store credit for trade-ins. When I was at school in Delaware, there was a Golf Galaxy and a brand new Golfsmith nearby. The Golfsmith was a bit bigger and nicer, but I never had a problem with the Golf Galaxy. [quote name="mdgolfpro" url="/t/76002/dicks-sporting-goods-fires-in-store-golf-pros/0_30#post_1025049"]I am one of those 560 PGA Professionals looking for a job as of 12:00 today when I had to call my wife and tell her the news.  I am sorry you aren't going to miss us, it's nice to know I busted my ass to try and give my store the same feel I had at the green grass level my entire career to our customers at Dick's but clearly it didn't matter.  All you cared about was getting your plastic tees and cheap golf balls, begging for discounts etc.  I won't miss you either [/quote] Feel free to tell us what it was like. I don't presume to know enough about the inner workings of Dick's Sporting Goods to say that us not missing you was your fault. For all I know it was your managers' fault. We've already had a couple guys say they didn't know Dick's even staffed PGA pros, so is that the fault of the PGA pros or were the stores understaffed in other areas, forcing the PGA pros to cover more of the store?

[David in FL]

Count me as another one that didn't even know that Dick's employed PGA pros.....

[Golfingdad]

Have any of you seen Sports Authority expansion in your area?

No.  We used to have a couple of SA's near us, and one of them became the Dicks that we now have.  The other is still there, but I know nothing of their golf selection.

I am one of those 560 PGA Professionals looking for a job as of 12:00 today when I had to call my wife and tell her the news.  I am sorry you aren't going to miss us, it's nice to know I busted my ass to try and give my store the same feel I had at the green grass level my entire career to our customers at Dick's but clearly it didn't matter.  All you cared about was getting your plastic tees and cheap golf balls, begging for discounts etc.

I won't miss you either

You may have misunderstood me.  I wasn't saying that the pros in Dicks were bad at their jobs, I was simply saying I don't shop at Dicks for golf equipment.  I'm sure you were great with your customers, I just wasn't one of them.

[Harp stein]

Real bummer, I was just in dicks yesterday and very disappointed in the selection of golf shoes. I hope this didn't include letting go of pros at the golf galaxy locations, I really liked the pro at the one by me.

[David in FL]

Have any of you seen Sports Authority expansion in your area?

Interestingly, I was in our local SA yesterday. They've just remodeled the store and have cut the golf section in about half. The hitting bay and putting green have been removed, and their selection and inventory of clubs, balls, and shoes has been dramatically reduced. The whole "feel" of the entire store was decidedly down-scale.

[inthehole]

Sorry for the pga guys losing their jobs - nothing good to say about that in this economy.

However, this is aimed at the industry, and Dicks by default.    Golf equipment just costs too much.     To charge $399 for a SLDR driver that's mass produced by the thousands (probably tens of thousands) in China is ridiculous in this economy.     If they charged $159 for a new driver, I would have to think hard about buying one.    It's reverting to a rich man's sport.     That's why most everyone waits a year or two to buy equipment at 1/4 the original cost online or on eBay.     Golfnow has gone to $hit - so much harder to find tee time deals than it was even last year.

If the retail industry wants to maintain a working class golf representation and put assess in seats so to speak, they simply must bring prices down.

[Aguirre]

Sorry for the pga guys losing their jobs - nothing good to say about that in this economy.

However, this is aimed at the industry, and Dicks by default.    Golf equipment just costs too much.     To charge $399 for a SLDR driver that's mass produced by the thousands (probably tens of thousands) in China is ridiculous in this economy.     If they charged $159 for a new driver, I would have to think hard about buying one.    It's reverting to a rich man's sport.     That's why most everyone waits a year or two to buy equipment at 1/4 the original cost online or on eBay.     Golfnow has gone to $hit - so much harder to find tee time deals than it was even last year.

If the retail industry wants to maintain a working class golf representation and put assess in seats so to speak, they simply must bring prices down.

It depends on what I'm buying.  I just bought a 64 degree wedge for $27 online, but six weeks ago I wanted a driver.  And I wanted to demo them.  So I went to Golf Galaxy, hit about six and chose one with the help of the pro.  It was an older model ($160, I think), that I surely could have found online, but I wasn't going to use the guys time and the stores demo equipment and not buy the club from them.

But I do agree that online shopping is cutting into golf retail stores more than many other industries.

[RFKFREAK]

Sorry for the pga guys losing their jobs - nothing good to say about that in this economy.   However, this is aimed at the industry, and Dicks by default.    Golf equipment just costs too much.     To charge $399 for a SLDR driver that's mass produced by the thousands (probably tens of thousands) in China is ridiculous in this economy.     If they charged $159 for a new driver, I would have to think hard about buying one.    It's reverting to a rich man's sport.     That's why most everyone waits a year or two to buy equipment at 1/4 the original cost online or on eBay.     Golfnow has gone to $hit - so much harder to find tee time deals than it was even last year.  If the retail industry wants to maintain a working class golf representation and put assess in seats so to speak, they simply must bring prices down.

I started playing golf regularly last year. My friends had been playing for years and I just didn't really have the disposable income then to play with them. Growing up I always viewed golf as a rich person's sport, and, to be honest, it kind of still is. I usually play at the local municipal course which is $20 a round but the course in Saratoga I think runs like $150-$200 a round which is way out of my working/middle class range. When I bought a new driver last year, I got the R11s which was the previous years TM model partly because it was about half the price of the R1. I feel bad for those that lost their jobs since it seems it happened through no fault of their own.

[meenman]

Did they provide any real value to the store?  To be honest, I never knew they employed PGA professionals at their stores.

The one at my local Dick's provided value when I took up the game. Honestly, he went above and beyond. Unfortunately for them, I receive stuff much cheaper (with equal service) from my pro shop at the club than I can anywhere else (other than close-outs, which I rarely buy)

[Harp stein]

Sorry for the pga guys losing their jobs - nothing good to say about that in this economy.

However, this is aimed at the industry, and Dicks by default.    Golf equipment just costs too much.     To charge $399 for a SLDR driver that's mass produced by the thousands (probably tens of thousands) in China is ridiculous in this economy.     If they charged $159 for a new driver, I would have to think hard about buying one.    It's reverting to a rich man's sport.     That's why most everyone waits a year or two to buy equipment at 1/4 the original cost online or on eBay.     Golfnow has gone to $hit - so much harder to find tee time deals than it was even last year.

If the retail industry wants to maintain a working class golf representation and put assess in seats so to speak, they simply must bring prices down.

Couldn't agree more! $70+ for a freaking "golf" polo shirt or pair of shorts?! $150+ for a pair of shoes! $400 for a driver?! They're all fighting for that upper middle class (or higher) customer, since that's the only demographic that spends any considerable amount of money anymore. But on the flip side, I bet they'd generate less revenue if they cut the price of clubs. It would just shift the entire price bands downwards, so stuff on EBay would be half what it costs now and the bulk of players would still buy from that secondary market. If they want to sell new they have to find a way to kill the secondary market, most likely through some kind of DRM-type technology. That's easier with digital goods than it is physical goods, but don't surprised when they figure it out!

Aside from getting fitted for a set of irons, anyone that buys retail is just throwing money away. There's dozens of drivers, woods and wedges available on EBay every day. And it's just a few bucks to have them re-gripped or the shaft tweaked from there. I've built an entire woods and wedges collection for less than $300 on EBay over the past 2 months and none of the clubs are more than 2 years old or look any different than if I bought them at retail and played for a couple weeks. Even for irons, I'd at least look at the secondary market first and take them to a pro to have them tweaked for me.

[Fromthecoast]

That sucks. I have actually had good luck with the guys at the local Dick's.

[Aguirre]

People still paying $90 for golf shirts need to discover the magic of TJ Maxx.

[Grndslmhttr3]

People still paying $90 for golf shirts need to discover the magic of TJ Maxx.

I usually get my golf clothing from Macy's. Izod makes pretty good stuff and Macy's has good sales on them a lot of the time, not that they're very expensive to begin with.

[DeadMan]

I honestly didn't even know that Dick's had PGA pros working for them. Would have been much more likely to shop there had I known that. I normally don't go there except to get tees or balls because their selection on clubs isn't as good as Golf Galaxy or Golfsmith, and I don't think they had any used clubs.

[RFKFREAK]

People still paying $90 for golf shirts need to discover the magic of TJ Maxx.

I usually get my golf clothing from Macy's. Izod makes pretty good stuff and Macy's has good sales on them a lot of the time, not that they're very expensive to begin with.

My local Golf Galaxy usually has a pretty good deal on golf shirts.  I forget how much I paid but I think last year they had a buy one get one free and it cost me somewhere around $40.

[David in FL]

People still paying $90 for golf shirts need to discover the magic of TJ Maxx.

And Steinmart! :beer: Complaining that golf equipment is too expensive because some drivers cost $400 is like complaining that cars are too expensive because a Mercedes S600 costs $200k. I can buy a very serviceable car for $5k, and can build a very serviceable set of clubs for a few hundred dollars. Too many people confuse what they want with what they need .

[oregongolfguy]

That is definitely a big bummer and I hope for good fortune for all the PGA pro's in the future.  I know that our pro at our dicks was a great guy, helpful, knowledgeable etc.  This really sucks as all we have in central Oregon is one dicks and one independent golf shop....That's it.

[Aguirre]

And Steinmart!

Complaining that golf equipment is too expensive because some drivers cost $400 is like complaining that cars are too expensive because a Mercedes S600 costs $200k.

I can buy a very serviceable car for $5k, and can build a very serviceable set of clubs for a few hundred dollars. Too many people confuse what they want with what they need.

Definitely.

I mean, I'm not going to buy a new driver every year.  So buying a one year old model for $100 or $150 is not cheating my game.  Same with buying ProV1s from the found/used bucket at Martin's in Myrtle every year (although I admit I get a lot of free golf balls and ProV1s through my job).

I do feel for golfers who are in certain markets, however.  Green fees vary widely.  I do the vast majority of my golfing in western PA and Myrtle Beach, where the prices are terrific and the courses are high value.