Golf in the retail world

[Tom Kilpatrick]

Viisited  Dicks and Galaxy this week - At Dicks no one was there to offer help in the golf department- At Galaxy - a clerk met me at the door and asked to assist me.

Owned by the same company yet as different as night and day. Dicks appears to be going the way of stores like Sears and Kmart. They are buying golf brands and pushing it as top-of-the-line merchandise. Whether it is or not- I cant say although some reports seem to indicate it may be true. Another tail tail indicator is that Dicks is now charging rent time on the simulator to test equipment. I can't say it is this way with Galaxy  for sure.

I have played golf for over 60 years and now my business is going to Edwin Watts and Golfsmith.

Although Dicks is in my backdoor- I will drive 20 miles to Watts where I will be helped with knowledgeable people, where I can test any club I want without paying a rental fee.

The best salesman in the world - Zig Ziglar- said' "Words alone will often fail- so demonstrate to make that sale".

He is correct and Dicks better learn it soon or it will hit their bottom line.

Then again- maybe Galaxy will be their high end golf store. It that's the case- they had better open a few more Galaxy Golf stores.

One can only hope.

[nututhugame]

This is true. Even Golf Galaxy is going the way of hiring good looking help rather than knowledgeable help. My recent experience with Golfsmith was way better. Dick's is good for balls, tees, etc...

[SloverUT]

I went do DIck's yesterday and had a great experience.  Helpful individuals and very friendly...

[RichWW2]

I imagine it depends on the day/time you go in.  On a typical M-Tr weekday before 5 they probably don't have anyone staffed because nobody is in the store.  Odds are they won't be making many sales between 10am-5pm on weekdays.  After that maybe, again, depending on the day.  On the weekends they usually have a couple people ready and waiting.  I usually only go to Dicks on the weekends and as soon as I get within 20 feet of the golf section the person is asking if I need help.

However, the only thing I'll buy at a retail golf store are gloves and tees, and usually only gloves because it's an "oh crap I need a glove because mine tore" kind of purchase.  Everything else can be found for much cheaper online.  The only downside is you have to wait a little longer to have it in hand.

[Dave2512]

The guys in the golf section at both of the DSG I frequent are overly helpful if anything. Which is crazy because they all know who I am and more often than not I rarely buy more than grips, tape, solvent etc. If I buy anything else there it's after my rewards cert comes and I blow it on balls. A few days ago I was there killing time after picking up my lunch. Within seconds of making a few practice strokes with a putter he came out and tossed a couple of ProV1's down for me to putt with because in his words the demo balls are crap.

[WUTiger]

In our area, one shopping mall has a Dick's at one end and a Golf Galaxy at the other. I'm not sure if Dick's is doing a bakeoff to see who wins or not. Also, I don't know if Dick's and GG player's reps have the same compensation plan.

Dick's looks like a golf shop, but GG looks and feels like a golf shop, and tends to have more knowledgeable people. One drawback to GG - not as many hitting bays as Golf Discount.

I imagine the golf section at a Dick's unit gets more or less emphasis depending on how much proportional revenue it brings to the store.

[cooke119]

I was in Dicks the other night and there was nobody there. I was checking out there prices and they were a lot more then what you can buy for on line. Lack of service and higher cost is not a good business plan for success. I wonder how long they will be around. I go to Golfsmith which is across the street. Very knowledgable sales people, a nice hitting area, and a really good selection of clubs to try.

[grubby98]

Wow, I have 2 Dicks with-in a 30 min drive of me and they both have very knowledgeable staff.  The one north of me has a retired PGA teaching pro and then the local college team all works there.  Then the other has the same and then some other workers that all seem to know what they are talking about.  I always go to the one with the college team working.  I rarely buy from Dicks anyway though.  I get tees, gloves, etc from there and then check out clothing on sale.  I buy everything else at my local golf shop.  I love supporting locally owned businesses, plus they are more willing to negotiate at rates and throw in goodies when you buy large priced items.

[Righty to Lefty]

Whenever I go into a golf store I know I'm gonna be there for a while so I am all for the customary greeting at the door but other than that I just want to wander around and look at EVERYTHING!!  If I need help I surely will ask but I definately don't need or want an employee shadowing me around the store...just me though.

[Pablo68]

My kid just got a job at Dick's about a month ago. The discount she gets is supposedly 25% but some exclusions apply. Also, the purchased stuff can only be for her, her kids or her spouse. I'll probably get her to buy some ProV1s for me but really that's about it. Their prices are jacked up alot on stuff anyway (except some stuff).

[stealthduffer]

Last weekend I was looking for my new driver. First went to Golf Galaxy - and couldn't attract any help at all. Spent some time looking at the top of the line drivers - nothing. Wandered around looking at other stuff - nothing. Noted that there was a pretty good group with a couple of sales persons at the back in the hitting cages. Looked to me more like a group just messing around than any serious buying going on. They were taking turns, trying a bunch of different clubs, no sort of analysis going on. Decided I'd had enough and headed out. On the way out the door one of the sales people said "Have a nice day". Didn't ask if I'd found what I was looking for. Drove down to Golfsmith. Was greeted as I walked in the door. When I told him that I was looking for a driver he asked about my game, what issues with current driver were, what my expectations were, did I have a budget, etc. In other words asked the questions to help find the best club for me. Spent about 45 minutes with me on the simulator - trying different clubs, explaining what the simulator was telling me, showed me some things on my swing and, when all was said and done, I walked out with a new driver. Didn't really consider Dick's even though there is one about 2 miles from me. Have had mediocre experiences there in the past. Great if I need some grips or a dozen balls quickly but not for spending big $$$.

[clubchamp]

It just depends on the store or the area, I have golfsmith, golf galaxy, and DSG all with in a short drive. DSG is the closest and the old pro from my country club works there very knowledgeable guy, golf galaxy is ok there is 1 or 2 guys that are good but the rest are just push whatever is hot, and golfsmith has a great GM and some good help but still if you go in there at the wrong time you won't get any help. The local independent shop I go to is solid because the owner and manager are almost always working but price kills them.