Tiger Woods’ off-course problems over the last few months have not negatively impacted sales of Nike golf products named after him, according to an exclusive “Tiger Index” created by the specialty retailer Golfsmith. In reporting “no noticeable or precipitous drops in unit sales” over the past several months, Golfsmith said its unit sales of Tiger Woods branded golf products rose by 8 percent to 9,564 units for the 24 weeks ended March 13 compared with the year before.
Hats were the hottest product category at Golfsmith during the period, rising by 24 percent. The American 74-store chain offers several dozen branded products around the famous golfer, largely hats, shirts, pants and belts.
Woods’ return to play earlier this month at the Masters golf tournament in the U.S. coincides with the next introduction of products named after him, also slated for this month. To back up its commitment to the legendary player, Nike has aired his first commercial in the U.S. since his problems began in November, coinciding with the tournament. The Nike ad features a voice-over from Woods’ late father, Earl Woods, who says, “I want to find out what your thinking was; I want to find out what your feeling are. Did you learn anything?” Nike says the ad addresses Woods’ time away from the game, and it expressed continuing support for him and his family.
Meanwhile, our own research efforts have led to the discovery that GitexPoint, a large-scale Italian distribution company with brands specializing in golf, team sports, alpine skiing and tennis, obtained a deal to distribute Nike Golf in the country last year, replacing the bankrupt R.C. Golf. It began to distribute the first products in February. GitexPoint may also occasionally sell Nike Golf products to golf retailers in Greece and Cyprus, where the brand is not formally represented.
On the other hand, GitexPoint is no longer selling Etonic golf shoes. It had continued to distribute the Etonic golf shoes in Italy after the brand was acquired by Lotto, but the latter has employed an agent to take care of it in its domestic market. GitexPoint has also given up the distribution of Dunlop clubs and balls, Yes! putters and Ogio golf bags in connection with its new deal with Nike Golf. Using a separate sales network, GitexPoint continues to sell BigMax and Voit caddies as well as Pride accessories as part of GolfTech’s European sales network.
Run by Marcello Tonello, a former top manager of Diadora, GitexPoint is the result of the merger between two distribution companies, Gitex and GreenPoint. The latter reached annual sales of €2.2 million with Spalding’s various golf lines before Callaway Golf and Russell Corp. divided its spoils. Prior to the deal with Nike Golf, GitexPoint was making an annual turnover of less than €1 million with its various lines of golf products. The company is one out of 125 for which a complete profile is available in our Italian market research report.
