As we here in Florida emerge from nearly a week of nightly sub-freezing temperatures, I want to pass along something I witnessed. Talk about making the most of the situation…this clever merchandising maneuver is straight-up guerilla, and something every shop manager should consider adding to his or her bag of tricks. It’s hardly a home run in terms of dollars, but last I checked it all counts.
One day, during the past frosty week, the sun came out and it warmed up just enough for me to head out to the range for a practice session. Still cold, mind you. When I went in the pro shop to buy my practice balls, the prime merchandising real estate around the cash register had two small displays…on one side of the register was golf gloves, in matching pairs right and left hand rubber banded together. On the opposite side of the register was a stand-up wire rack with about eight pair of gloves. Nothing fancy, just kind of a generic one-size-fits all ski glove. I mentioned to the pro how I thought this was a pretty sharp idea, and asked him if they were selling. “Absolutely,” he said. He told me this was a perfect opportunity to move some excess inventory of right handed gloves, by matching them to the left handed counterpart and selling them as a matching pair. As for the ski gloves, he stopped by a local big box outlet store and purchased all the ski gloves they had for $4.99 a pair. They were selling in the pro shop for $15.00. He told me what was on display was the third lot he purchased. Brilliant. Time and place, people. As I said, not a home run, but very nicely done. And this could work just about anywhere. Might be something to try for the northern courses when they first open, and the last 60 days of the season. Don’t forget where you found this little gem. As always, thanks for stopping by. And don’t forget to tell someone.