CLUB / RESORT DATA
Pro Shop Total Sq. Ft.	1,700
Annual Revenues	$3,000,000
Number of SKUs	4,784
% of total revenues are hard goods?	25%
% of total revenues are soft goods?	75%
Number of Demo Days	52
Pro Shop Ownership	Club

For a Pro Shop that is thriving — revenue is up and is expected to top $2.9 million this year — there certainly is no resting on one’s laurels. In fact, at the Atlanta Athletic Club (AAC), the staff is constantly conceiving new, creative promotions to continue to earn customer loyalty. “We aim for visits to our pro shop to be experiential,” said Kristen Everard, director of retail merchandising. “Our merchandising tells a story of the club’s history or shares something fun and relevant to our membership.”

• “Operation 36” is all about growing the game and represents a perfect marriage between the Club’s innovative instruction program for women and the Pro Shop offering incentives to entice them in the latest equipment and apparel they’ll need to look, feel, and play better. The eight-week program provides beginners with the most effective development model to learn to play the game; it also has been a huge boon off the course. Before and after each lesson, many of the members can be found heading to the Pro Shop with incentives including a 20 percent discount coupon to spend as they wish. Further, the Club’s Director of Retail speaks to the group before the start of a new session to share insight on women’s dress code at AAC, the latest trends in women’s golf attire, the hottest selling items at the Pro Shop, and how they can rely on the staff to make their shopping experience inviting, enjoyable, and ultimately successful.

• Bobby Jones Jr., best known as the finest amateur golfer of all time and the only winner of golf’s Grand Slam, grew up and learned to play golf at AAC. Today, his legacy is memorialized in the club’s Jones Museum, which displays the largest collection of Jones’ memorabilia in the world, including replicas of the Grand Slam trophies. The Pro Shop celebrate his significant ties to the Club through merchandising, memorabilia displays and historic images. The staff utilizes a secondary logo featuring silhouettes of Jones’ four Grand Slam trophies to place on apparel and golf bags. “Our membership is very proud of our Jones’ legacy,” says Everard. “We celebrate this connection and use visual merchandising to keep his memory and accomplishments alive throughout the club and in our retail shop.”

• Big-and-tall shoppers now know exactly where to find apparel — from shirts to outerwear to vests to pullovers — matching their sizing needs. Members looking for XXL and XXXL sizes have their own newly designated section, clearly marked with new signage. Staff also recognized these same shoppers have a keen desire to dress on trend, so inventory was enhanced this year, especially the popular Peter Millar brand, to include brighter colors and bolder patterns.

• AAC invested in Golf Genius Golf Shop’s innovative software to help transform shop operational efficiency and reporting. The new software streamlined special orders, created member surveys, enhanced member communication, and facilitated the retail team in developing 3200 member profiles. Membership response to the improved communication and surveys has dramatically exceeded expectations with as high as a 40 percent return rate. Every profile is fleshed out, down to details such as wish-list items mentioned to staff during a pro shop visit or what they tell a pro during a golf lesson about a desired new club.