“We have a customer base, whether we bought or have grown organically, and our attitude is – `It is really hard to get a customer, do whatever you can not to lose them.’ We’ve empowered our staff to do whatever it takes to keep the customers happy. When it comes to customer service, what kinds of things do you focus on, whether it’s interactivity or engagement, and how do you continually seek that improvement? We’re not killing it, but we’re having a solid year.” The industry had a correction and we think it’s been good for everybody who’s still left. We tried to buy Golfsmith, I don’t think that’s a secret to anybody – lost out to Dick’s Sporting Goods at the auction in New York – still disappointed we didn’t win, but obviously we were at the heavyweight table and they were a little heavier than us. The industry went through a correction last year. So we’ve decided to keep the brand loyalty in those markets. In Arizona, Vans golf was founded in 1963. So when we bought Roger Dunn in 1993, the Roger Dunn brand had so much recognition and loyalty in the marketplace that we couldn’t change it. “We have a total of 81 stores that we own and operate, with the six different brands. How is Worldwide Golf positioned in the retail space of the golf industry right now? After three or four months, I got promoted to shoe sales, then it was club sales, assistant manager, manager, regional manager, general manager, then president. I got a job as a gripper at a company that had just opened their first store in 1984. Whether it was work or play, I was at the golf course all the time. Because if anyone was ever looking for me, I was either at home or on the golf course. I started loving it, started working on the golf course when I was 16 and it actually kept me out of trouble. I had a little bit of a tough childhood my father passed when I was young, so I never actually got to play golf with him, but the guy across the street got me into golf when I was about 13. How did you first get into golf, both personally and professionally? The NGF recently sat down to talk with Morris about how he first got involved in golf, his climb through the retail ranks, the state of the golf industry and preparing for the future: About 15 years later, Worldwide Golf bought the Roger Dunn brand. Morris grew up in the San Fernando Valley in California, where in the late 1970’s his mother bought him his first set of golf clubs at a Roger Dunn store. Morris at the Plantation Course in Kapalua, Maui, where he made the only two holes-in-one of his life three holes apart in September of 2012.
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