Similarly, with news that our big friend 'American Golf Discount' was desperately seeking a buyer (which they now luckily have) It's important to not do a Glasgow Rangers by focusing solely and selfishly on what to do in the here and now, but to look at the big picture and what's better in the long run. AG joins a growing list of large ‘Big Box’ High Street Retailers falling into a financial furrow. The other most notable being Frasers, which incidentally Mike Ashley (who was also trying to get AG) is likely to be taking over soon! But as generally happens when any business starts to struggle the short term necessity is to generate instant income (not necessarily profit) which typically comes in the form of Promotions/Offers/Sales, call it what you will. And whilst I know ‘everyone loves a bargain’, when the Big Golf Retailers try to entice you with their aggressive Advertising Campaigns, substantial Offers and, dare I say, slightly misleading Incentives (ie: ‘DOUBLE TRADE IN VALUES’ where not twice the price of the UK Trade In Value nor even close to being double the value!) then I know it`s easy to get sucked into what you might gain from that kind of offer. But think of the big picture, whilst you might be getting a Jorg Albertz or Michael Mols for the price of a Nacho Novo now do you really want to end up back experiencing a Francis Jeffers!? The point I`m getting at here is that whilst everyone`s money is absolutely their own to do with what they want, where they want, if a powerhouse Golf Retailer is struggling and you choose to spend there, to snare a ‘bargain’, where does that leave the small Golf Retailer!? Aka YOUR Golf Professional! With Membership Numbers and footfall dropping year on year since I arrived, and Membership Fees Increasing in correlation this effectively means less people with less ‘golf specific’ disposable income. If these people then choose to spend whatever money they can spare for golf purchases at a Corporate Conglomerate then the income stream for your Professional Shop trickles even less. I`ve been fortunate to receive lots of nice feedback and praise for the improvements we`ve made to the Professional Shop in general and the Stock Quality/Levels and Service we provide, but the reality is you can`t pay Bills with compliments….trust me I`ve tried! We are about to enter the bleakest part of the Year for every Golfer, but the good thing about winter is that we will always come out the other side into Spring/Summer! The same can`t always be said for the Winter for Business! I really don`t want my Shop to offer nothing and provide even less! And I`m certainly not here only for survival! So rather than buying a Tore Andre Flo for the Price of a Dado Prso (which means you still end up with a Tore Andre Flo!!...an expensive mistake that didn`t really work) remember I always will be able to make sure you get a Kenny Miller or more likely an Ally McCoist (the ideal fit that reliably produced excellent results and provided great return on investment!) And lets been honest there are also plenty of occasions (not that I want that many) where I have been able to offer you a Brian Laudrup for the cost of a Rod Wallace! So you know you also get value for money under this roof too! As Mr Banks Senior said in Mary Poppins: “Feed the Birds!? Fiddlesticks boy! Feed the birds and what have you got? Fat birds! If you invest your tuppence wisely in the PRO, Safe and sound, Soon that tuppence safely invested in the PRO, Will com-pound, And you'll achieve that sense of conquest, As your affluence expands, In the hands of the PRO. Who invest as PROpriety demands!”
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