American Golf- are they safe?

[Coffey]

There are 2 in Belfast, Boucher Road and Connswater, with Boucher being the bigger and more modern of the 2. I heard Connswater was the one being closed with Boucher staying.

Connswater store is already gone. It closed when the original batch of stores closed.

 

[need_my_wedge]

AG are a retail golf superstore a lot of people using it will be nomads and society golfers - they aren’t the type to spend money on Ralph Lauren etc hence why in the MK you could see no one was buying them or going near them because they are priced far too highly for your average AG customer

Perhaps you’re right. Some of the RL and JL prices are pretty steep compared to the likes of UA and Adidas etc. and certainly not prices I like to pay for golf clothing. But if they are trying to change the shop model and move more up market, that’s something they are likely prepared for.

With regards to club stock, the M4/ M3 range are already discontinued by TM so TM stock is limited availability until the new 2019 range is launched (

https://twitter.com/x/status/1069592197106851840

). Cobra don’t ship the new F9 range until mid Jan. it’s unlikely that they will stock up with old models even if there is stock available from the manufacturers.

We wil have to wait and see how it pans out with the new season gear arriving, and what the stores look like in a month or two.

 

[Oddsocks]

Perhaps you’re right. Some of the RL and JL prices are pretty steep compared to the likes of UA and Adidas etc. and certainly not prices I like to pay for golf clothing. But if they are trying to change the shop model and move more up market, that’s something they are likely prepared for.

They have to be very careful if this is their long term goal. Your typical Ag customer isn’t shopping for £60/70 tee shirts. Our club around three years ago carried out this same process, all of our pro shop is now Oscar Jacobs, Gavin Green, Under armour or FJ. The issue is the grab purchase sales have clearly gone down.

When they stocked the Callaway, Adidas and ping clothing there were a lot more impulse sales. A prime example would be turning up realising it’s chilly and you had the options of sweaters starting at £35/40, now the lowest price is around £65+

On the flip is AG are trying to offer more upmarket brands, maybe this is an attempt to entice a different customer in who in theory has a higher disposable income in the hope that increased club sales follow.

In the south M25 area the only store I can think of on high end clothing is silvermere, but I think that’s an exception to the rule given the area it’s located in

 

[User2021]

The problem of stock the new owners will have is caused by the old owners.
They didn't have cash to do the pre orders, most of which will be placed 6 months out and in some cases even longer lead times.

The new owners probably need to be judged at the end of the summer, to have more of an idea of how they are performing / changing the business.

 

[brendy]

Isn't Boucher Rd earmarked for closure?

There are 2 in Belfast, Boucher Road and Connswater, with Boucher being the bigger and more modern of the 2. I heard Connswater was the one being closed with Boucher staying.

Yea I think Connswater is away already. Boucher has quite a decent fitting area upstairs, it's in a very busy retail area too, they'd be daft to close it. If their discounts only cover some golfers then I guess they'll struggle no matter what though.

 

[Jensen]

AG are a retail golf superstore a lot of people using it will be nomads and society golfers - they aren’t the type to spend money on Ralph Lauren etc hence why in the MK you could see no one was buying them or going near them because they are priced far too highly for your average AG customer

Have to disagree, I'm a member of a golf club with an attaching pro and use AG quite a bit. Furthermore, I know of a lot of other members who use AG a lot. I also know golfers that are members of clubs elsewhere, but prefer to use AG.

 

[Parsaregood]

Have to disagree, I'm a member of a golf club with an attaching pro and use AG quite a bit. Furthermore, I know of a lot of other members who use AG a lot. I also know golfers that are members of clubs elsewhere, but prefer to use AG.

Most club golfers I'd argue would not fork out the sort of money for Ralph Lauren or j.lindberg. Not many people prepared to pay £90-£100 or more for a sweater. I do buy the odd thing from both but I'm probably in the minority where I will spend more than the sort of average golfer. I also prefer to shop at independent stores than chain stores

 

[Imurg]

Most club golfers I'd argue would not fork out the sort of money for Ralph Lauren or j.lindberg. Not many people prepared to pay £90-£100 or more for a sweater. I do buy the odd thing from both but I'm probably in the minority where I will spend more than the sort of average golfer. I also prefer to shop at independent stores than chain stores

So who buys them?
These brands must be available elsewhere and will be similar prices.
If nobody's buying them why haven't they gone out of business?

 

[Parsaregood]

Not saying nobody buys because alot do, it would typically be your wealthy golfer, who I think is more likely to buy from their own pro as they really don't mind what it costs. Both aren't golf only brands and are high end, people I think will spend more on non-golf clothing than they will on golf clothing, your ordinary club golfer is probably delighted with UA or similar and doesn't see the point in paying double for clothing that isn't that much nicer or considerably better quality.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Have to disagree, I'm a member of a golf club with an attaching pro and use AG quite a bit. Furthermore, I know of a lot of other members who use AG a lot. I also know golfers that are members of clubs elsewhere, but prefer to use AG.

Which bit are you disagreeing with exactly?

 

[Jensen]

P

Which bit are you disagreeing with exactly?

Where you say a lot of people using AG will be nomads or society golfers.....

 

[Deleted member 15344]

P


Where you say a lot of people using AG will be nomads or society golfers.....

They will be - that’s not to say some club golfers won’t use as well

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Have to disagree, I'm a member of a golf club with an attaching pro and use AG quite a bit. Furthermore, I know of a lot of other members who use AG a lot. I also know golfers that are members of clubs elsewhere, but prefer to use AG.

I agree. I'm a member of a club which has a limited clothing range (most with club badges attached) and I use to use AG a lot for clothing purchases. It was also good fir spontaneous purchases like trolley or putter (guilty to both) and for trying different makes and model of clubs

 

[Oldham92]

Have to disagree, I'm a member of a golf club with an attaching pro and use AG quite a bit. Furthermore, I know of a lot of other members who use AG a lot. I also know golfers that are members of clubs elsewhere, but prefer to use AG.

Yeah I'm the same. Joined a club but every piece of equipment I have has come from AG. Only thing I've had from the pro shop have been balls and a jacket.

When I first started out and was playing muni's I didn't even know that you could use a pro shop without having a membership, and had decent service and prices at AG at Trafford so I keep using it. The club pro shops are missing out on a lot of business like that through lack of knowledge and advertising in my opinion. Even a sign when you drive past would help.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The club pro shops are missing out on a lot of business like that through lack of knowledge and advertising in my opinion. Even a sign when you drive past would help.

I think most club pros are there to serve the members first and foremost and to be honest most don't have the floor space to carry the stock of even a small AG. Where they can improve is ensuring they price match not only AG but other online retailers and ensuring their members get the best service they can. That would give them the best chance of ensuring their members use them for more of their purchases

 

[Oldham92]

I think most club pros are there to serve the members first and foremost and to be honest most don't have the floor space to carry the stock of even a small AG. Where they can improve is ensuring they price match not only AG but other online retailers and ensuring their members get the best service they can. That would give them the best chance of ensuring their members use them for more of their purchases

No issues with the stock, the issue was that I didn't know that it was available to me as a non member. I would have been looking to buy a full set. So straight away that's at least a few hundred and potential future business lost.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

No issues with the stock, the issue was that I didn't know that it was available to me as a non member. I would have been looking to buy a full set. So straight away that's at least a few hundred and potential future business lost.

I get that but as I said, most club pros are there to serve the membership first and foremost. That said, I do think there are ways they could promote themselves better to outsiders. I guess it depend to some degree how the club they are at would perceive it, especially those that pay the pro a retainer. One of the greatest things about this forum is that new golfers can come on ad ask for advice on any golfing topic and get some excellent answers to help them.

 

[Maninblack4612]

The new company cleared the debts and have all their club suppliers back on board.

Where did you get that info from? In an administration the whole idea is that you get rid of the unsecured creditors, with secured creditors receiving the proceeds of the sale price of the business.

 

[NearHull]

I've always tried to buy through my Pro shop. Having been a member of four clubs (my job moved me around the country and countries) my experience is that the Pro will always try to do a deal. I do confess to an impulse purchase of a used putter from American Golf which I was trying out whilst my wife was trying on various golf shoes - she has always struggled to find comfortable golf shoes and has tried many suppliers, American Golf being one of them. And I did take advantage of their 'double up' offer to offload some clubs and put the money towards some good quality DryJoys.
In general we do shop around for best prices for any purchases (and I include American Golf in any golf equipment searches) but I do have a sense of loyalty when it comes golf clubs and try, but perhaps not always, purchase from my Pro.

 

[Andy]

I’ve posted on here a few times about this. The company that has taken them over has a good reputation for turning business around. My best mate worked for a company picked up by them for peanuts, turned around and sold for £400 million. Everyone seems to think the turn around will be overnight, it won’t, it will take some time. Pretty sure they’re trying to get rid of as much of the old stock as possible before replenishing with new season.

I’m sure the new owners want to take them up market a but as they’ve added J Lindberg, Ralph Lauren and Lyle & Scott as new clothing ranges already in store.

There’s still a few bargains to be had in the iron sets, and custom orders can be placed as well.

It’s going to take a little time to restore customer confidence but the new owners will be aware of that. Let’s see what they do over the next few months before writing them off.

J Lindeberg has been available in the Premier Scottish stores for a year.