Sean Palmer, the 2014 Philadelphia PGA Section Assistant Professional of the Year, is the PGA Director of Golf at Union League Golf Club at Torresdale in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Sean Palmer on the importance of creating non-golf displays that capture members’ outside interests:

Last fall, we unveiled a display featuring wovens, vests, and sweaters with the aim or attracting our trap shooting members after our golf season. We also outfitted the display with camo hats and  knit hats, as well as shooting jackets, vests, and trap accessories. We included the display in the trap shooting email newsletter. We outfitted our trap director with merchandise on the display and relied on the most important means of communication possible: word of mouth. I think it’s incredibly important to continually be present in your members’ eyes, regardless of the activity. We are at a club with a host of other interests than golf as we resent the title “pro shop” or “golf shop.” We want to be a retail shop that supports the brand and effort of all members and their activities and being present for them builds relationships and business.

Sean Palmer on the business impact of creating non-golf displays that capture members’ outside interests:

The trap shooting display was a big hit for this group leading into a cold season and opened our shop to groups other than golfers. We quickly turned over the table display and ran it into the holiday season with success. The initial order was a $5,000 wholesale order keystoned, which turned over twice during that season for us. We have also done this with other categories, branching into swimwear and sunglasses at our pool, fitness apparel in a display case at our fitness center downtown, and a pop-up holiday shop at our city club yielding nearly $55,000 in found sales set up in a conference room for a month and a half.

If you would like to email the author of this Best Practice directly, please email seanpalmer@pga.com