Dicks lays offs all its Pga Pros

That's a bummer. Really stinks for those pro's.
 
Felt like? Try was.

What's really interesting about that, back in January at the Ultimate Testing, Taylormade mentioned that they have a hard time with how to work with Dicks because they are the largest golf retailer. Sounds like there was a failure to communicate by somebody.
 
Bummer. I hate to see people lose jobs.Taylormade tidbit is certainly interesting as well.

Yup, this sucks.

I know the pro that worked in the store nearby me. Took a few lessons from him. He mentioned a month or so ago that he thought it might be coming, but he was going to hold out. He is a fairly new pro, and he said that what he got paid at Dick's and the benefits were the best option for him out there. Said that if he worked at a course he would be taking a pay cut and would work way more hours on top of that.
 
I never really understood why Dick's bought golf galaxy and then continued running large-scale pro shops within their other retail stores. In many cases, the retail stores are within blocks of the Golf Galaxies. Near me, Dicks is literally across the street from golf galaxy.

doesn't make much sense from a business perspective to begin with.

I agree. Never made sense.

Bummer. I hate to see people lose jobs.Taylormade tidbit is certainly interesting as well.

Having been downsized a couple times, I hate it too. The TaylorMade tidbit, "As TaylorMade's largest retailer, Dick's was hit hard after it bought all four models of the driver TaylorMade released last year. The glut of merchandise forced Dick's to sell at under the suggested retail price.", sounds to me as if Dick's overstocked on each of the models and got stuck. Retailers of golf equipment have had years to adjust to the fact that golf equipment is replaced by new models frequently and the old model is sold at less than the original suggested retail value. Not sure why it have affected them so much more adversely this year over any other.
 
The PGA Pros at Golf Galaxy at least give lessons. I've never been to a Dick's that has a lessons area

You're right, they only got into fittings and club adjustments.

However, I think alot of them would use the exposure to gain students for lessons. The one in my area did I know.
 
I feel awful for the employees and no one should lose their job like that but there's a reason dicks is declining. Ive never been to one that had a "pro" with any actual knowledge. The one near me couldn't even regrip my set properly it took him 3 attempts!!! No I'm not kidding it was a huge fiasco. Tons of us just got tired of their bs and went elsewhere. This doesn't surprise me
 
Felt like? Try was.

Am I the only one who hit that driver well?
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I hit the Jetspeed well. Barely any difference from the SLDR for me. I've been really hitting the Jetspeed 3W well lately too.
 
What's really interesting about that, back in January at the Ultimate Testing, Taylormade mentioned that they have a hard time with how to work with Dicks because they are the largest golf retailer. Sounds like there was a failure to communicate by somebody.
Good observation. Earlier this year when TM, Callaway and Adams were running promotions I went to two separate stores to demo clubs and get a goodie. The first store had never even heard of the Callaway "Big Bucks w/ Phil" promo, didn't have any of the materials, etc. The other store was aware of the promos but didn't have the appropriate goodies in stock. Neither store seemed to be aware of the Adams/SW Airlines promo. Perhaps there is more to this story after all.
 
I'm pretty sure my local DSG didn't have a pro on staff. The same guy was always there with intermittent part time help. I'm gonna go tomorrow and see if he is still there as I would be shocked if he were a PGA pro.

I know the one over in west Knoxville had a PGA pro and he was actually very helpful the one time I talked to him. I hate that he lost his job as there are not many other golf shops in the area. Maybe he can get on at a local course or lesson facility.

Dicks is declining because of their ridiculous prices, absurd policies and overall poor customer service. It only makes sense to blame it on the golf department as they don't really seem to focus on that department or hunting/fishing for that matter.

If you need seasonal team gear or workout apparel goto DSG, otherwise the ones I have been to are pretty useless.
 
I feel I must make a few comments. First, this quote from the story.

"As TaylorMade's largest retailer, Dick's was hit hard after it bought all four models of the driver TaylorMade released last year. The glut of merchandise forced Dick's to sell at under the suggested retail price."

Let the TM release cycle dribble begin.

Second, I've been to Dick's a few times, and I have yet to find anybody that knows even the basic fundamentals of golf clubs. Whoever staffs them picks out people who don't appear to actually play golf, or care about golf.

Finally, maybe they should send all of those PGA pros to Golf Galaxy, who always seems to be horribly under staffed (at least at the one I goto).

~Rock
 
Sucks for those folks that lost jobs, but I guess I went to the wrong DSG store. If there was ever a pro at the stores I went to, they were never very helpful.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if they were told by TM they had to purchase X amounts of drivers and other equipment to keep them getting priority. For example you could go to Dicks and pretty much get what you want then and there but some smaller stores you might have to order and wait. Not that the small store wouldn't want the inventory just the big store gets priority over it.
 
There are definitely good and bad everywhere you go. I had poor experiences at one store, but at another the pro was great. I switched and started going to Edwin Watts a while back because the club guy there was super knowledgeable and always loved to talk about stuff. It was nice to get his insight on things when I love to tinker with stuff myself. And he seems to like talking to someone who actually wants to know more about club building side of things. Really sucks for the guys who lost their jobs though. Never want to wish that on anyone. And now for anyone looking to get in to the field, it is going to be flooded with people. That could end up bringing starting salaries down in the industry.
 
That stinks for those folks that lost jobs and I really feel for them, I think big box stores like that are in a bit of trouble.
 
I see a few interesting/noteable things there:

1. It was always unsound to compete with themselves between GG and Dick's. This is one reason why.

2. Dick's seems to have over-invested in both flawed inventory, as well as in the PGA pros. Mix that with GG as local competition against same-store sales and you have a really unsound model. I'm unbelievably sad the pros are having to take this heat. It's not good.

3. A new driver shouldn't cost $300 or $400 new to begin with, and if it didn't, it also wouldn't have to cost $99 a season or two later. The manufacturers picked a model by where they have to crank out "new" (read: incremental) technology, at a fast pace, in high volumes, and sell them at premium prices before price wars start on the products a few months later. That's a crappy model as well, especially if the incremental gains in the technology are not clearly and instantly apparent to consumers (which they generally are not).

4. Even with this flawed system, Dick's also decided to invest deeply into one manufacturer--so they doubled down on the bet. I liked their partnership with the "golf digest hot list". While I research more deeply than the hotlist, many consumers will take that as a sign of expertise and safe purchasing. But the double down into the TaylorMade side was a bad pivot point to choose on their part. Not only would the difficult model have to work well, but TaylorMade would have to thrive in that period as well.

Seems none of the legs they chose to stand on thrived.
 
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Super Mega stores SUCK. Never going to Dick's.
 
I will say that I do like the Galaxy brand and focus, and if done better, could really become a strength. In Colorado Golfsmith is still better, but if you loaded Galaxy with PGA pros, loaded it with demo bays and "bad weather/ year round practice" bays, maybe a connected sports bar, and really tailored your inventory around the seasons/major events/trends in Golf Digest or Golf Channel, you would have people in there constantly and year round.
 
Man, that's tough....
 
I won't give out exact numbers, but I know that Golfsmith too let go a good size number of employees recently from corporate in Austin, and a few marketing positions. Sales are down all over, when I say I work part time there it means I work once every other week. It's not just me but many staffers are like that. Luckily, I'm very fortunate in that I don't have to work full time, no mortgage or car notes. But it seems the stories are mounting that golf is declining, in players, rounds, everything.
 
This kinda goes with our discussion in the RFE thread the other day, someone said the shop owner offered him the club at a insane price cause no one was even interested. Problem most of the manufacturers are pumping out new drivers before the old ones get cold. I'm not knocking them because I personally like variety to find what best for my swing but your average once a month guy with money to spare just wants the newest most expensive one cause as everyone know if it cost more it must be better.
 
For 5 years I lived in a suburb of Richmond, we had a Dick's and Golf Galaxy for golf gear. The people at Golf Galaxy are rude 90% of the time, giving the impression that they were doing you a favor. Dick's...i'd call their golf department to check to see if they had a demo in stock, and 75% of the time the phone would just ring forever, or i'd be left on perpetual hold. When I did come in store, same concept...like they were doing me a favor. Frankly, it's not just the PGA pro's at these shops, but in both scenarios, they were bosses, and i hold them accountable for the both stores crappy customer service. 3 months ago a Golfsmith opened up in-between both of them, and the place is always packed, customer service pretty damn good, and i never feel like i'm not supposed to be there trying out a club... So at least in the small micro universe that I have experience with, they brought this upon themselves. Don't mean to be cold, but in an industry when all your competitors charge the same price for products, you need to differentiate yourself with customer service, and atleast in my neck of the woods, Dicks and GG fall below the water mark, and i'm not surprised by this at all frankly.
 
I hate to see anyone lose their jobs in today's economy. I feel all Chinese made products are vastly overpriced. The quality of these goods are really starting to suffer as well.
 
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