Next month, the first store in Florida--15,400 sf at 4656 Millennia Plaza Way in Orlando--will lead off a two-year plan to open 15 golf superstores in Florida. Andy T. Craig with Austin-based Golfsmith says the team's now shopping for sites in select Sunshine State markets.

By Thanksgiving, Golfsmith will have cut the ribbon on three more locations: San Diego and Livingston and Paramus, NJ. The back-to-back openings will take the "interactive" superstore retailer to 46 locations coast to coast and boost the count by 18 since First Atlantic became its majority shareholder in October 2002. With concentrations in Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Los Angeles and New York City, Golfsmith last year did $257.7 million in sales, an 18% increase over 2002.

"It's all designed for one thing," Craig tells GSR, "to be the Number 1 golf retail brand in the country. It's probably the most aggressive expansion in the golf industry." First Atlantic Capital, he says, "gave us the capital and the commitment to grow nationally. It's an opportunity to get 30% of the market share, like that enjoyed by retailers like Home Depot and Lowe's." About $6 billion is spent each year in the industry. "No one owns more than 5% of the market," Craig says, adding that Golfsmith is a 5% heir with an appetite for significantly more.

When First Atlantic got involved, Golfsmith had 26 superstores in the US. Last year, the store count jumped to 38, launching shops in Los Angeles and Detroit and re-entering the New York metro with three stores. That year also brought the acquisition of Zevo Golf and the San Francisco-based Don Sherwood Golf & Tennis World. This year Golfsmith opened four stores by April and has four more ready to launch in November. The newest locations will be a 10,000-sf unit at 824 Camino Del Rio in San Diego, its 13th store in California. The fourth and fifth stores for the New York metro area will be an 11,300-sf shop at 464 Route 10 in Livingston, NJ, and 15,000-sf unit at 240 Route 17 North in Paramus, NJ.

But Golfsmith isn't counting on just real estate to secure a retail stronghold. Multi-channel marketing puts products at consumers' fingertips when and where they want it, Craig says. Part of the expansion momentum is dedicated to online shopping and catalogs. Golfsmith is driving the play from a 40-acre property off Interstate 35 in Austin, where it has research and development, made-to-order and private label manufacturing and US distribution in a one-stop shop. The firm, which employs 1,325 worldwide, also has distribution centers in Canada and the United Kingdom, plus supply agreements in Italy and Japan.

"The greatest result of our retail expansion is more and different choices for golf consumers across the country," Jim Thompson, Golfsmith president and CEO, says in a press release. "We are confident that golfers will see the value of Golfsmith's customer service and specialty retail services, as well as the fun of our activity-based, or experiential, retail offerings."

The average consumer spends 45 minutes to an hour in Golfsmith supercenters, according to Craig. And, the goal is to increase that time with its "interactive store-within-a-store" strategy. "We are partnering with the best of breed to drive traffic," Craig says about a layout that includes GolfTEC Learning Centers, with PGA teaching professionals for high-tech, in-store instruction, and Hot Stix Technologies, a precision, club-fitting technology. Each store also has in-store putting greens, computerized swing analyzers and golf simulators to measure shot distance, ball flight and a club's head speed.

Meanwhile, Golfsmith also has taken a shot at marketing innovations like a 90/90 playability guarantee that gives consumers 90 days to return buys and receive an in-store credit for a different set of clubs, worth up to 90% of the original purchase price. The company touts itself as the first one to introduce the guarantee nationwide--a move which "ultimately ensures that consumers buy the right clubs for their needs."

Golfsmith was founded in 1967 as a golf club components business with customized products sold via golf repair shops and mail-order catalogs. James D. Thompson took over as president and CEO in October 2002 to steer the multi-channel operation's expansion in the US and abroad, including the addition of a pair of subsidiaries. Golfsmith Canada LLC and Golfsmith Europe LLC. Golfsmith brought the 10,000-sf minimum storefront, with an interactive, store-within-a-store model, to market in 1995.