The Pro Shop at Royal-Mid Surrey Golf Club in south-west London has seen record sales since a £80,000 facelift was completed in March that took its design theme from successful High Street retail outlets.
Utilising the same space as before, the shop now offers consumers a more relaxed shopping experience, with greater space in which to look around, plus clearer branded areas to find the lines they are keen to buy.
Innovations include a square club stand that houses 250 individual clubs; a dedicated wall with golf shoes displayed in pairs rather than individual models; ten iPads for customers to view colour options, rather than take the sale elsewhere; and three TV screens for marketing that also feature a flyover video of the course. There are eight resident PGA Professionals at the shop, plus a retail assistant.
“It took three years to find the ideal designers, but it has more than paid off given the response from Club members and visitors to the modern retail environment, which has also motivated our award-winning staff,” said Head Professional Matthew Paget. “Despite the poor early season weather, we’ve enjoyed a really strong April and the best start to May we’ve ever had.
“Sales of footwear have risen dramatically since the shoe wall was introduced and we’ve had similar reaction to bags and trolleys now displayed so they can be seen wherever you are in the shop,” he added.
The new shop presentation is split between men’s and women’s lines, since the Club has the largest female membership in the country with almost 350 active lady golfers. There is also room for a Performance Studio for custom fitting with the latest Trackman 4 launch monitor and a customised screen.
Club Chairman Chris Holt commented: “I don’t think there is another club in the country with such a comprehensive Pro Shop offering and we’re delighted with the refit to go along with our new practice area.”
Project management for the facelift was provided by Ian Knight of SDI
Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club www.rmsgc.co.uk