GolfHos

At least in Minnesota:

http://www.startribune.com/535/story/1068633.html

People keep asking if this is some kind of joke," said Simon Kallal, who was the founder of 2nd Swing and president of the company between 1996 and 2004. "It's not."

In fact, to hear Kallal tell it, filing for bankruptcy may be the best thing to ever happen to 2nd Swing. It enabled the company to close all of its money-losing stores and get out from under millions of dollars in debt -- yet retain its brand and bring back most of its original management team.

The reborn 2nd Swing will reopen this month with just two locations -- at 2420 E. Hennepin Av. in Minneapolis and 13031 Ridgedale Drive in Minnetonka --and it will be more narrowly focused on used clubs than ever before. About 85 percent of its inventory will consist of used golf equipment, compared with 55 percent before the bankruptcy.

Good news.  But I miss the Roseville store. :sad3:

Is this some kind of joke?

In what respect?

People keep asking that question.   :P

I hope it comes back strong.  I never got to see a store in my area, but I love the concept.

Cool.

Got it now Stroh? ;) :D

LOL  :P Thanks.  I never clicked on the article.  Oh, that spaceage.

It's not a joke?

So 2nd swing's new business strategy is to add more used clubs to their stores.

Seriously they must be joking.

It may not be some kind of joke but it sure sounds dirty.  Lots of TFT words.

Well, you can barely use the word store(s). They now just have two.

In the article it states that Golf Galaxy now makes ~7% of their revenue from used club sales. I think it will be tough for 2nd Swing to get back to the size they were before. I wish them luck though.

I believe they got into trouble when they went away from a large used inventory, and tried to sell so much new equipment.  At that point, there is now way they can compete with a Golf Galaxy, et al.

Should have danced with who they brung.  I love the store for exactly what it was.  Some feckwad from Edina, with more money than brains buys the hottest new driver for 4 bills.  Can't hit it, after trying twice, and not taking a lesson, or realizing that it wasn't compatible with AJ's Secret, and it has to be the clubs fault.  I could buy a 400 dollar driver for 175 bucks.

That principle is what built that store, because the supply line was constant, and endless.


On Topic:  Take my wife.  Please.

I agree stroh.

I remember picking up a really sweet set of Ping irons for a great bargain. I hope they stay true to the used club dealio.

I found a few bargains there,  and as much as they talk about the new/used ratio... what I thought brought them down was the inflexibility to create store specific/ city sepcific pricing on items ... trade values... etc.   



Anyways,  if Golf Galaxy here in PGH gets 7% of sales from their used section,  I'm shocked.  there's about 3 clubs that have ever been in their used racks that were even worth hitting.   driverwise... its 99% of it is stock shafts, beat up demos,  or 2-3 year old models   ironwise, it's all either  old crap less than $100, or last years set at still more than $600.  no in between

Figured that. :D

So... is it a very great 2nd hand chain store or something?

Indeed.  You bring in the clubs you don't want, and they buy them from you.  If you want to buy clubs, you can buy used ones, greatly discounted.

Yep, can get some really good deals on clubs sometimes. 8)

There was one about ten minutes from my office that cost me a lot of money.  I kept going up on my lunch hour and would inevitably see something I wanted to try.  At first 2nd Swing was a great place to trade and get good deals.  Towards the end their trade values and resale prices were awful.  They also became 100% inflexible on their pricing.  When the place first opened I'd hear the manager bartering with guys about trade and sale prices.  Then it all stopped and it was "take it or leave it, buddy".

I wouldn't mind seeing them back if they got back to how they were in the beginning.  I think my rampant ho-itis is now under control.  I can control it. [sm_fingersx]

Is it really a comeback if you were a national chain and now are opening two stores?

It's a start.  :D

Plus, when one of the stores is a few miles away, it's a "comeback" for some of us.  ;)

Yahtzee!