Significant retail closures at Golfsmith, Sports Authority and others leave shopping patterns in flux as golf season begins to open across the country.
PORTLAND, Ore. (March 1, 2017) - Longitudes Group LLC, a leading independent sports research company, announced the release of the Big Box Golf Closure Report. The report shares how golfers in 38 major markets are planning to shop and spend in the wake of Golfsmith, golfsmith.com and a cluster of sporting goods chains’ bankruptcies in 2016 and 2017. Longitudes Group estimates more than $800M in golf spending is up for grabs with the closing of nearly 670 retail stores that sold golf equipment, apparel and footwear.
Key findings include:
- The very high level of awareness of these closures for golfers within these key markets. Golfsmith will be missed!
- Frequency of visits to these retailers and etailers
- Golfers share that their online spending will go up, but brick & mortar still comes into play. Amazon isn’t the only winner in this state of flux.
- The anticipated change in shopping habits in the wake of this retail bankruptcy vacuum do vary by soft goods and hard goods.
“At the PGA Show last month, many manufacturers and retailers were asking, Where’s the golfer going to shop now?,” shared Sara Killeen, President of Longitudes Group. “With the Golf S&P panel at the ready, we were able to target the impacted cities and quickly talk to golfers about how they plan to channel hop this year in the wake of all these bankruptcies.”
The Big Box Golf Closure Report will provide golf industry stakeholders with the latest insights on where golfers are planning on shopping and spending as they gear up for the 2017 spring golf season. The report delves into how quickly golfers are and are not abandoning traditional retail for online shopping. The 38 metropolitan areas where golfers were surveyed are all markets that formerly had one or more Golfsmith stores. The research answers the question – Where are golfers going to shop NOW? It will help retailers and manufacturers make informed decisions to help grow their business through a variety of options. You can purchase the 29 page report at longitudesgroup.com for $499. Buy here.
The research is derived from Longitudes Group’s proprietary Golf S&P™: Spenders & Players golfer panel powered by a volunteer database of GolfNow’s more than 3 million registered users. The Golf S&P™ panel includes 13,000 active spenders and players in the game and the panel is growing in size every quarter. The results in the report are culled from the survey of 452 respondents.
About Longitudes Group LLC
Longitudes Group, LLC, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, is a research and marketing company providing unique analysis on the travel and spending behaviors of avid golfers in the US and Canada. Armed with the Golf S&P™: Spenders and Players panel and a separate database containing information on the behavior of 5.2 million avid golfers mapped by county and zip code, Longitudes Group uses a geo-demographic approach to probe both the location and purchase behavior of the avid golfer population. On the supply side, Longitudes Group has built the most up-to-date database of golf retailers including 15,300 golf facilities, 785 off-course retail stores and 1,700 chain sporting goods store.
For more information about Longitudes Group and the Golf S&P™ Panel, please visit www.longitudesgroup.com
Contact:
Sara Killeen, President
(503) 477-6284
Sara@longitudesgroup.com
Eric Stanton, Vice President of Marketing
(503) 475-7970
Eric.Stanton@longitudesgroup.com