Duck Press Golf Greeting Cards

The game of golf is always full of surprises....

Rick Newell is a Duck Press golf greeting card illustrator

Purchase golf greeting cards at www.greetings4golfers.com

See Life in the Trap greetings & coffee mugs

Thanks Michael, for all the memories...

Rick Newell is a Duck Press greeting cards illustrator.

Private Label: New Area For Sales

Tom Costello, the PGA Head Professional at The Jeremy Golf & Country Club in Park City, Utah and PGA-recognized Merchandiser of the Year, used private label shirts to help his golf store's bottom line.

By sourcing a profitable, quality golf shirt and then embroidering the shirts with his club's logo, he was able to merchandise shirts at nearly 60% margin. Key factors in executing this merchandising idea were launching the merchandising program around a key date. He chose the Fourth of July weekend and developed an in-store attractive red, white and blue product display. His club's members were very receptive to the promotion and eager to purchase and wear their club's logo shirts.

Tom didn't stop there; he sourced some shorts with good margins and promoted buy 2 shirts and get a free pair of shorts. The nice margins on the shorts and shirts minimized the promotional expense and created an excellent value proposition for the customer.

Merchandising Take-Away:

Be creative, name brands don't always offer a unique appeal and better margins are available developing your private label. You can start with one product, one style and expand to products and styles as demand grows.

Just Got Back From The PGA Merchandise Show - I've got a plan!

Well, the collateral damage from our nation's economic ills was certainly evident at the recent PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida. The show's attendance and the number of exhibitors was down. Directly across from my booth location there was an empty 20'x20' island space with two easels explaining the exhibitor was unable to attend as it re-organized. These are the signs of the times. 

We can all drive down the street every day and see the proliferation of "For Lease" and "For Sale" signs, sightings of newly purchased cars are scarce, and every week there's new scuttlebutt about how our favorite restaurant or retailer is closing its doors. How do we stay positive?

It's simple; we must work harder and smarter. There's no economic bailout coming for the small business owner, so we'll have to weather the storm and come out stronger because of it. As the competition is thinned, those companies that focus on delivering revenue/profit solutions for their customers will gain market share. 

If you have a good product or service there's no "smoke and mirrors" involved, rather there's and opportunity to offer a value proposition. In the golf industry, the economic turmoil is causing panic, but in the wake of the panic there is a merchandising paradigm shift occurring. Those determined retailers are listening and embracing products and services that assist their survival. Moreover, the smaller golf retailers have the advantage to be nimble and responsive to their customers' needs. 

Like all economic cycles, this period of decline will be followed by a period of growth. At that point, I plan to be a stronger, preferred supplier.

Don't look now, but Americans have lost 25% or more of their wealth!

That's enough to make anyone change their spending habits, and there are few businesses that aren't  feeling effect. Yet, when I consider America's current economic train wreck, I can't help, but feel optimistic about the golf industry.

So what? Am I crazy? 

I don't think so...

You see, I think the golf retailing industry has skated for years on the principle that their core competency was to distribute golf clubs, golf clothing and golf balls. Well, for years the margins in those categories have been eroding, and merchandising clothing can be "hit or miss." 

While we all trudge through this through this horrific economic monsoon, we are being forced to re-examine our business philosophies and practices.  To continue "doing business as usual" is not a sensible option. We all need to identify the value proposition we provide to the industry and to our customers. Through this initiative that we can discover "fresh" ideas that will replace lost revenue and find new profits.

I'm making my industry contribution by promoting golf greeting cards as a necessity in the merchandising mix of golf retailers - "every golf gift needs a golf greeting card." Moreover, a greeting card is the perfect packaging for a gift certificate, and all golf retailers sell many gift certificates. Fundamentally, there are thousands of opportunities to sell a golf greeting card to a golf store shopper.

My inspiration is drawn from overwhelming positive feedback of golfers when they read my cards and by my capability to publish a card of equal or better quality of Hallmark and it's brethren. Yet, in many cases, the Golf Pro, the centralized golf store Buyer, and/or the Store Manager have a modest disdain to merchandise greeting cards. Why? I'm still trying to figure it out. I suppose that merchandising traditional golf products is familiar and comfortable, and working with products not traditionally sold at golf stores seems like an unnecessary effort.

Well, recently I heard a couple of wise, old business sayings, which will be the evangelistic theme of my marketing effort in 2009.

Orignal Saying: "I'll take a fast nickel over a slow dime any day." 

My message: "Bankroll fast nickels (soft goods) while you wait on your slow dimes (hard goods)."

Original Saying: "Stop stepping over pennies to get to dollars."

My Message: None, the original saying speaks for itself!

Why don't more golf stores sell greeting cards?

First, this blog is not intended to be a self-promotion of my company, rather I hope to use it as a platform to talk about the golf retailing industry. Provide some insights that can help your business and present marketing/merchandising ideas in a venue where I can get feedback. That being said, let me tell you a little about my company, Duck Press.

Nearly 5 years ago, I purchase Duck Press when it was in shambles. I spent the next 4-plus years rebuilding the company to publish and distribute millions of greeting cards specifically for golf retailers. You see, golfers are a unique breed that just love their recreational past time. If you think about it if a golfer was going to give someone a golf gift wouldn't they prefer to give it with a golf greeting card? The answer is a resounding "YES"!

Yet, if you go into a golf store, you're probably not going to find that retailer selling greeting cards. In some cases, they have greeting cards, but they are located somewhere in the store where you would never look. In some cases they have greeting cards, but not golf-theme greeting cards. And, in some cases they have lots of empty spaces on the display and just don't offer you a complete selection to choose from. Well, it's my goal to change this!

Think about it; "every golf gift needs a golf greeting card." This simple statement is so intuitive. 

I challenge you to search for golf-theme greeting cards; they are hard to find. If you go to a drugstore or any other retailer that commonly sells greeting cards, you will look through hundreds of linear feet of shelving to find a few, if any, golf-theme greeting cards. So a golf store and golf greeting card are a perfect match! Many customers love the opportunity to complete their purchase with an attractive golf greeting card. Especially, if a customer is purchasing a gift card/certificate, there is no better way to package that gift than with a greeting card. Frankly, all golf retailers should give their customers a free greeting card with a gift card purchase and watch customer satisfaction "shoot through the roof."