Product Hub August 08, 2017
Massive Merch Store Opens at PGA Championship
The 99th PGA Championship being held this week at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, NC, is home to the largest branded merchandise shop ever created for the historic golf major.
About 10 months in the planning and construction, the 43,000-square foot shop houses approximately 1,400 products, everything from PGA-branded towels and flags, to hats, polo shirts, T-shirts, quarter-zips and much more. Prices can start around $3 for a bag of golf tees, but accelerate for nicer items. Some golf shirts go for $65, while certain T-shirts will set visitors back $38. Golf towels and flags are expected to be the best sellers.
“A lot of people just want to take home a memory from the event,” Michael Quirk, senior director for merchandising and licensing at the PGA of America, told The Charlotte Observer. “I guarantee you’re going to find something in here."
Photo credit: Diedra Laird, Charlotte Observer
In addition to logoed products, the store will feature sleek vehicles from sponsor Mercedes Benz and large video walls where life-size digital versions of pro golfers Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia will walk by, asking visitors if they want to pose for selfies. The PGA has positioned televisions around the spacious, brightly lit store so shoppers will not miss any of the action on the greens. Forty-two cash registers aim to ensure expeditious checkout.
Launched last Saturday, the shop will only be open through Sunday (August 13) to people with PGA Championship tickets. About 200,000 people are expected to attend what is the PGA’s fourth and final major event of the year. Last weekend, people without tickets were allowed in to buy merchandise.
Those who lack a ticket aren’t totally out of luck, though. The PGA will be selling a limited amount of merchandise that is available in the shop – about 3% to 5% of the offerings – through pga.com.
Quirk told The Charlotte Observer that the shop will take about a week and a half to deconstruct once the PGA Championship concludes.
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