Dive Brief:
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Golfsmith International is slated to close 59 stores nationwide in the next few months, according to a press release from Hilcol Global, a liquidator involved in the wind down. The news comes on top of the 20 store closures Golfsmith had already announced.
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The specialty golf retailer will keep open 30 stores in 16 states, according to a list of the stores on its website. The company will also continue to employ about 500 workers.
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The liquidation efforts, conducted by Hilco, Gordon Brothers, and Tiger Capital Group, feature some $80 million worth of golfing merchandise, including “top quality” golf equipment, apparel and footwear discounted up to 30%, as well as of store fixtures, Hilco said.
Dive Insight:
Golfsmith's store footprint is shrinking fast. Just two months ago, the specialty retailer operated 109 U.S. locations when it declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. By October, Dick’s Sporting Goods and a team of liquidators had won a bankruptcy auction to take over its U.S. business for $70 million, and now they are whittling Golfsmith's store count down to 30.
According to court documents, Golfsmith has blamed its demise on tough economic times, which it began to see during the Great Recession in 2008 when interest in the expensive sport waned. Statistics from a participation report by the National Golf Foundation show that even while more people are trying out the sport, they’re not sticking with it.
The lack of commitment to the sport has hurt Dick’s golf sales too, including at its own specialty Golf Galaxy stores. Nike, by contrast, has thrown in the towel altogether, exiting the space this year after sales in its golf division last year dropped 8%, according to Business Insider.
Dick’s has been on a buying spree as of late: Earlier this summer, Dick’s acquired Sports Authority’s intellectual property with a $15 million bid, as well as the leases to 31 stores for another $8 million. The deal also gave Dick’s access to valuable customer data from 28.5 million members of Sports Authority’s loyalty program.
