Direct Golf, Europe’s award-winning, leading multi-channel specialist golf retailer, continues to defy economic forecasts by releasing increased year-on-year sales figures for the ninth consecutive month.
The Huddersfield-based golf retailer began 2015 with a flourish after already posting record-breaking sales figures for the winter and festive period – both in-store and on-line. And the company is now 22 per cent up as a business for the financial year, following a record-breaking April – with sales figures up a staggering 39 per cent year on year – and a similar performance in May of 34 per cent across the spectrum.
Direct Golf, which was set up in in 1991 by PGA Fellow professional John Andrew, has reinvested substantially in the past year to improve the ‘customer experience’ and it is seeing a substantial return on that outlay.
Earlier this year the company opened a new store in Southampton – Direct Golf’s southern-most outlet and part of an expansion plan which will double the number of stores from 20 to 40 by 2018 – while a £500,000 investment in store refurbishment across the country has seen the introduction of new state-of-the-art apparel and footwear departments plus a brand shop in shop experience.
Direct Golf made its name in the 90s by slashing manufacturers’ recommended retail prices, and it continues to offer top-quality equipment at the lowest-possible prices, with its ever-popular warehouse clearance offering thousands of product lines at up to 70 per cent off RRP.
The launch of its recent 2015 catalogue – which was distributed to more than 250,000 customers during Masters week – helped create the record-breaking spike in sales last month.
And customers have been quick to embrace the new trade-in scheme – Clubs for Credit – whereby golfers exchange their old equipment for in-store credit which can be exchanged for any product, not just like-for-like. Introduced at the beginning of April, it, too, has helped boost turnover in the record-breaking month.
Founder Andrew believes all of these elements have contributed to a series of financial results which has gone against the general downturn being endured by many in golf.
He said: “These hugely satisfying figures are the latest proof that Direct Golf is continuing to defy the overall downward trend in the golf industry. While many of our competitors struggle in tough industry conditions, we are continuing to flourish and are targeting continued growth of the business.
“We’re in a fantastically healthy position. Sales are up, margin is up, and that’s not just good news for us as a business, but for our loyal customers too, who will continue to benefit from even better prices and service as the business grows and grows.”
Direct Golf UK has enjoyed massive growth in 24 successful years of trading. Starting with one small shop in Huddersfield, it now has 21 retail outlets nationwide and a significant portion of the web and mail order golf market.
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