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“ American Golf was originally founded back in 1978 by two brothers , who set it up from a garden shed in Warrington , England ,” Nigel begins . “ The brothers had visited America and were inspired by golf stores in that region . With a focus on value and discount , they opened their first discount store while creating their own brands to add a level of uniqueness to the business , which saw it grow from strength to strength .
“ Along the way , the brothers went their separate ways , and a new partnership was formed . The business continued to grow , and it was sold to Lloyds Development Capital , part of Lloyd ’ s Bank , in 2004 , but was sold on again to Sun Capital , a private equity business based in Miami . Sun Capital prioritized growth in 2014 , but their aggressive agenda combined with other market factors saw the business end up in administration in 2018 .
“ We were bought out of administration by our current owners , Endless , a special situations investor based in Leeds , England ,” he continues . “ Then , just as we started to adjust to new ownership , the Covid-19 pandemic hit . Like every retailer , we had to adjust our strategy to cope with the consequences of closing our retail stores . As we came out of the pandemic , golf generally benefitted from people ’ s desire to get out in the fresh air , and we experienced elevated levels of pent-up demand .
“ Due to this demand , many golf brands , including ours , ‘ got overly ’ excited when it came to forward estimates and stocks ended up swamping the market . This resulted in excess stock , which saw us clearing stock at reduced prices throughout 2022 as the market returned to a more normalized state . Despite difficulties in the market , we ’ ve seen higher levels of golf participation since the pandemic , which has had a positive impact on our sales and profits .”
... we ’ ll maintain our superior standards of customer service and develop a strategy that emphasizes our heritage
Good , better , and best
Having only joined American Golf at the start of 2023 , Nigel influenced the company ’ s fresh mindset and has transformed the business by embracing its heritage . “ We ’ ve returned the focus to American Golf ’ s historical values of selling value , not discount , by providing good quality golf products across multiple price points ,” he explains . “ By focusing on its original DNA , we ’ re striving to make American Golf a truly omnichannel experience and the ultimate destination for all things golf .
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