SirShanksAlot
Weir Golf and Sundog Eyewear have announced they will be teaming up to develop a Mike Weir Signature Series of glasses. I do not have a release date but I am sure they will be a hit in Canada.
There has not been much going on this past week but it should really pick up once I start making my rounds and seeing all the new stuff. I thought now might be a good time to give an update on some things I have seen recently:
Sales of the TaylorMade R7 Quad have totally died and it is not really much of a surprise. This club was over-hyped if you ask me and consumers have stopped asking for it. I think there are really two reasons for this; the R540XD and R580XD took a nosedive in price and have become a very attractive alternative, and the R5 Dual is here and many consumers see it as “just as good” for less money. I think TaylorMade’s constant product introductions are catching up to them and consumers are loosing confidence.
I also don’t hear anyone talking about Wilson and their new products. I have said all along that the new Wilson line is going to sell very well next year but no one talks about it. I think part of the reason is that Wilson has stayed very quiet about their new stuff and I have heard there will be a huge marketing push early in 2005.
Companies have also been really slow in their end of season clearance deals. Normally when October comes around companies are breaking down the doors with special buys and closeouts. Consumers have come to expect great deals this time of the season and there isn’t really much out there this year. I believe that there was a real cleansing of the whole industry this year. The new products were really just slight improvements from last years stuff and it seemed companies were retooling for a strong 2005. I know many retailers saw this and went really light on inventory this year. I am expecting both manufacturers and retailers are reloading and 2005 will be extremely strong.
Cleveland Golf’s success on the tour is starting to translate into success at the retail level. I have never had as many Cleveland requests as I get now. Cleveland has always made really good equipment but the “average” golfer had no idea who they were. I expect them to continue to grow in 2005 even if their tour success dies down.
One company that I think may feel the effects of a surging Cleveland will be Titleist. The 2004 Titleist line is actually really weak. They don’t have a solid iron that an everyday golfer would want (the 704’s and 804’s are not popular), their woods are designed for the better player (Titleist has always geared themselves towards the better player but these players account for a small percentage of consumers) and other companies are slowly making ground in the golf ball department. Titleist is lucky that it has Pro V1, Pinnacle, Footjoy and King Cobra to help keep the boat afloat. Cleveland could very easily cut into Titleist’s iron and wood sales leaving the #1 Ball Company in the World leaning more and more on King Cobra.
Well I guess I have done enough ranting for now. Thanks for visiting and have a great day!