Quote:
Originally Posted by Shark Doctor
Brick and Mortar retail stores (and even banks for that matter) are going to be obsolete in the near future.
These huge companies need to study the Blockbuster model and be afraid... and adjust accordingly.
I'm going to say not necessarily, at least in the realm of golf equipment.
A piece of that is the fact that there will always be a desire for instant gratification and to see stuff live and in person. As awesome as getting things delivered to your door can be, buying a $500 driver sight unseen isn't exactly comfortable for a lot of people.
Also, as long as the manufacturers
engage in price fixing support minimum acceptable price policies there isn't that incentive to window shop and then go home and order online like you can do for electronics. Unless of course you're willing to buy used.
That said, there is no doubt that margins are mediocre and Golfsmith's costs are too high. I've only been in a couple of their stores but they were both considerably overlarge.