PROFILE
Current Position: Vice President, Retail and Marketing, Haggin Oaks Golf Super Shop / Morton Golf.
Years in Merchandising: 40-plus.
Top Achievements / Honors: Eight-time author, AGM's Little Books of Big Golf Promotions Series; winner, AGM Best of the Best Shop Award, past president, AGM.
FAVORITES
Apps: Facebook, Reddit and Instagram.
Books: "Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins" (Mark Schaefer); "Blue Ocean Strategy" (W. Chan Kim / Renee Mauborgne); "Grace Space: Creating Spaces We Want to Live and Lead In" (Dr. Heather Penny).
Podcasts: "Hosel Rockets" (Morton Golf Sales). Our own golf podcast, of course.
Apparel Piece: Puma Cloudspun Pullover. So soft.
Accessory Item: Oakley sunglasses.
LITTLE THINGS
Must have item / prop for every golf shop: If you don't have a Ford 1929 Model A displaying golf balls in your store like us, then you're missing out. It's the greatest conversation starter in the history of props.
Best dressed golf professional: Payne Stewart, my hero.
One person / brand to follow on social media: Dunlop — Cleveland / Srixon / XXIO / Asics.
Q&A
The First Call: What inspired you to go into golf retailing/merchandising?
Ken Morton Jr.: Followed my father's footsteps. As a multiple-time winner of the PGA's Merchandiser of the Year Award, I had a pretty amazing generational compass to follow.
TFC: What is your favorite/most rewarding part of your job?
KM: Two things. The first is the people I get to share my day with. They really are my second family in a lot of ways. The second is the ability to utilize my creativity in ways that challenges and stretches me to think outside the box.
TFC: What advice do you have for someone considering a career in merchandising?
KM: Retail is art and science rolled into one. It's science because it's technical and math-oriented on the front end to make sure that budgets, open-to-buys and purchase orders are correct. But it's art in the display-making, the marketing and the process of making a consumer feel enthused, energized, educated or beautiful by making a purchase that you created. You get to use both sides of your brain. And if you do it well, you get rewarded each time a customer makes a purchase.
TFC: What part of your job do you believe has the most impact on the success of your store?
KM: Customer service. Certainly location, selection, custom fitting, promotions and more all have an impact on success. But it's the connection between a staff member and customer that can be powerful enough to have them come back again and again over easier choices like Amazon.
TFC: What is the biggest challenge you face on a daily basis in your merchandising role?
KM: Competition from new close-to-home places. As our vendors have placed a heavier emphasis on direct-to-consumer business, our biggest competitors aren't necessarily big-box golf stores or Amazon, they're becoming the very vendors that we carry in our store. That becomes a dance with vendor selection in some cases.
TFC: How do you choose the brands that you offer/feature in your store?
KM: Consumer demand, performance, point-of-purchase opportunities- along with lines/products that our buying team feels passionate about in pioneering. Having new brands and products that customers won't find in other stores is a key of differentiating our Super Shop.
TFC: Are there any ways that you see where golf is a leader in fashion trends?
KM: Certainly in men's golf clothes, this has happened. Post-covid, many of the return-to-work offices have done so with a more casual Friday look. The idea of wearing a 5-pocket golf pant and a polo shirt to the office is more common-place than it has ever been. You simply need to go to Nordstrom and look at their men's department to see that. They're carrying many of the same brands we are in the golf shop these days.
TFC: What has been the most exciting new product/category in your store in the last year?
KM: Women's athleisure wear has exploded and taken over that part of the business. Brands like Lululemon and Vuori are staples of our women's business in just a couple short years. I half-teasingly joke that the official uniform of being a mom is Lulu leggings, a tee and a pair of Ugg shoes.
TFC: Is there any particular brand that inspires your thinking in your in-store presentations?
KM: Not necessarily a brand, but we get lots of inspiration from tools like PGA Magazine's Visual Merchandising Center, the incredible Atlanta Gift Mart showrooms, the magazine VMSD and certainly, the AGM.
TFC: What is the best way for your vendors to help you increase your sales?
KM: Way too often, our vendors are mainly concentrated on just the sale of the product into our store, feeling that's the end of the process. For us, that's just the beginning. Retail is theater and that's just the first act. When we're sitting down with a rep or at a show watching a line, what's the vendor's plan to help in the second act moving the product through? What's the point-of-purchase plan, are their media assets to help showcase it on social media, are their videos available to share in store, are their direct mail opportunities to share with the members, are their events to help showcase/sell product through and how can they help incentivize/energize your sales staff to get behind the product?
TFC: Describe the biggest challenge in managing inventory?
KM: Partial and late deliveries.
TFC: How do you (as a merchandiser) add the most value to the profitability of your store?
KM: As the chairman of the board of the National Golf Buyers Association, I'm in charge of building an entire line of products under the Backspin Golf and Backspin Golf Threads name. We have apparel, clubs, bags, gloves, balls, accessories, training aids, headwear, vessel ware and more- all sourced directly so that the consumer gets a product that is priced at a value and with a margin that is a good 20 points higher than the rest of product in our store.
TFC: What is the best way to introduce a new product?
KM: Staff to use the product and then promote it with testimonials.
TFC: In what facet of your job do you believe you have evolved the most over time?
KM: I've come to trust the intuition of my team and give them grace/space to be able to test and try new products without feel of failure. More times than not, their passion about a product or line they're bringing in will be enough to translate to the customer and get them excited enough to make a purchase. It's infectious.
TFC: What career advice do you have for those considering a career in merchandising?
KM: Do it. The golf course is the best office in business.
TFC: What trends are you currently seeing in golf retail, and how are you adapting to them?
KM: More expensive putters and a heavier emphasis on putter fitting so we are building a putter fitting studio with high-end technology to make that portion of our business a higher level of experience.
TFC: How do you create a unique shopping experience for your customers?
KM: Today, it's about experiential retail. How can you differentiate your shopping experience enough to make a customer want to take their valuable time, gas money and energy to not want to click two times and buy it on Amazon. We have to have an experience that warrants their effort. Clubfitting on launch monitors and trial has been a key one for equipment. But stores need to think through putter fitting, ball fitting- along with technology opportunities in apparel and footwear to cement themselves as worth the effort.
TFC: What is the most memorable event or promotion you’ve organized in your store?
KM: Our Golf & Guitars Music Festival.
TFC: How do you stay motivated and inspired in your role?
KM: By staying connected and watching my peers in the AGM and NGBA. There's so many incredibly great ideas out there that can be "borrowed" and adapted in our stores. You just need to keep your eyes open.
TFC: What is your go-to strategy for increasing sales during slow periods?
KM: CRM data-mining. Through our point-of-sale system, we have the opportunity to pull up specific databases of customers that have bought certain products, certain vendors, certain categories or from certain people. Communicating regularly with them about new product launches or opportunities specific to their own brand affinities is the best way to draw new customers into the store.