MoreGolf Group acquires Cycle Lab

[IMan777]

sad isn't it!

 

Very Sad....

[shaper]

All but a few courses are struggling... I know of a few here in Joburg that are looking at refinancing and or selling off parts of the golf course not used for residential development.

 

The number of members and rounds played are dwindling each year and it becomes a fine balance for the clubs to raise the fees to cover the operational costs, without driving members away who can no longer aford it.

[JGR]

PS...the independent pharmacy is a great example, I used to work for a software house that developed the POS systems for the independent so them staying in business was our bread and butter(I wasn't coding the software though, I was building Business Intelligence models so that they have the tools to be more profitable). With the big players coming into the pharmacy sector(dischem and clicks being able to dispense drugs at the same price as the independent due to legislation), the smaller one man pharmacies started closing down since their frontshop(or retail area) and efficiencies wasnt in order. Went to the retail federation show in NY and brought back heaps of ideas and models for the independents ...Business Intelligence being one of them. We gave them this as a value add proposition from our side, which kept them in business and in turn kept us in business. We managed to up the net profit % of the independent by 8% across hundreds of pharmacies in some cases by as much as 20%.

 

You take 8% of your gross profit and add it to your bottomline....happy independent pharmacy staying in business...doing better than before and having more control. The same rules apply to upping the bottomline, whether you are selling bikes or pharmaceuticals...retail is retail

 

This was over and above the value adds I suggested above, this was just by working smarter with their resources and assets.

There is also more to this example - wasnt the cost of medicine (markup) controlled? This coupled with the buying power of clicks/deskem saw their decline. Clicks is part of a bigger group as well (musica,body shop ect)

 

As a small 'shop on the corner' you need to do something different to compete - like the corner shop near my house. they open very early and stay open late (they also serve beer/wine from a hidden fridge at the back )

[JGR]

Mowbray Golf Club in Cape Town has just been placed under a rescue plan, but whether it will succeed is debateable. The game is not in good shape at the moment.

The rescue plan they need is higher ground. Cant imagine they would do well being totally flooded 3 months of the year

[Oceana]

The rescue plan they need is higher ground. Cant imagine they would do well being totally flooded 3 months of the year

They've been around for over 50 years .... their location is hardly a new problem.

Its a sign of the times ..... golf's an expensive sport, a round of golf takes at least 5 hours then add in travel, drinks etc ... you might as well write off the whole day. Time and money are scarce commodities in this time.

[Greg29]

Hi All, we are also recruiting a number of new positions for the store. Please see all vacancies here:

 

http://theproshop.co...-cycle-lab.html

 

If you are interested in applying please e-mail to the link on that page.

 

Pls tell us you're going to jack up the customer service levels, that's the main reason why I (and all my mates) don't shop there!!!!!

[Oceana]

Good luck to More Golf though .... they certainly understand retail ... so I think there might be some changes at Cycle Lab.

[slabs]

A bit of the track,

 

http://homegrown.24....sportsmen-2013/

 

Have a look at this article with top sport earners for 2013 in SA. Golfers in first 4 positions and way above in earnings compared to rest. Unfortunately no mtbers come close.... But then again they have lots of disposable income and are willing to fuel their hobby

 

So even if the masses like myself support mtbing, golf is still king. The US tour has also made millions of dollars in the past year and I think the most ever. So this is no dying sport (yet)

 

With regards to golf courses hitting bad times, I am not all that unhappy with the demise of a few. They sprouted like mushrooms in this country in the past and it was obvious that all cannot survive. Then they also treated their paying customers with all those silly archaic rules that has lead to the demise of most club sports in this country. Try even having a drink at the club and you do not have the right clothes on!

Edited September 27, 2013 by slabs

[JGR]

They've been around for over 50 years .... their location is hardly a new problem.

Its a sign of the times ..... golf's an expensive sport, a round of golf takes at least 5 hours then add in travel, drinks etc ... you might as well write off the whole day. Time and money are scarce commodities in this time.

it was tongue in cheeck .... but their insurance but be astronomical and the constant need of repair at hyper inflated prices erodes into profits

 

Agree on that point - as well as competetion for those two things

[rouxtjie]

 

There is also more to this example - wasnt the cost of medicine (markup) controlled? This coupled with the buying power of clicks/deskem saw their decline. Clicks is part of a bigger group as well (musica,body shop ect)

 

As a small 'shop on the corner' you need to do something different to compete - like the corner shop near my house. they open very early and stay open late (they also serve beer/wine from a hidden fridge at the back )

Yea that is what I was trying to say in not so many words with "dispense at the same price...through legislation" in my post. Basically the independent pharmacy could markup scheduled drugs to their liking, but the new legislation at the time stopped that and they were forced to become proper retailers. In a pharmacy you have a front shop and dispensary and since they couldn't markup to their liking in the dispensary anymore, coupled with the big group buying power they had to focus on two things to make up for this loss in bottom line

 

1. Cut costs

2. Sell more in the front shop

 

The bi models and reports we gave them covered these areas, and on an avg took a independent to 8% nett profit increase from where they were before the legislation took effect. It was a really awesome project and something I am very proud of. Retail is an extremely interesting subject.

 

I thought this was a great example of big retailers coming into the market like dischem and click with the independent pharmacy, they had to change and if they didn't they closed their doors...I saw it happening.

Edited September 27, 2013 by rouxtjie

[igknot]

Yea that is what I was trying to say in not so many words with "dispense at the same price...through legislation" in my post. Basically the independent pharmacy could markup scheduled drugs to their liking, but the new legislation at the time stopped that and they were forced to become proper retailers. In a pharmacy you have a front shop and dispensary and since they couldn't markup to their liking in the dispensary anymore, coupled with the big group buying power they had to focus on two things to make up for this loss in bottom line

 

1. Cut costs

2. Sell more in the front shop

 

The bi models and reports we gave them covered these areas, and on an avg took a independent to 8% nett profit increase from where they were before the legislation took effect. It was a really awesome project and something I am very proud of. Retail is an extremely interesting subject.

 

I thought this was a great example of big retailers coming into the market like dischem and click with the independent pharmacy, they had to change and if they didn't they closed their doors...I saw it happening.

 

Two days later but here goes.

Shops that are in affluent areas where price is not the customers biggest concern can by making changes survive and complete on quality. Most of us cyclist that can affoed to spend R20k on a bicycle fall in this market. Move a little further away and the small store has no leg to stand on. It cant adapt to the game of buying bulk and strong arming producers. Then we move a little further down the chain where spaza shops provide the service because the customers biggest concern is transport. Produce is expensive but the spaza shop is the only supplier.

 

A comment was made a bout not selling the large brand but that the LBS concentrate on service and niche brands. The large brands is the bread and butter in the retail business of the LBS. That is what puts the kids through school. The service and value add is what put them in a good school. This bread and butteris now moved to he warehouse stores as they can negotiate/strong arm producers into lower prices.

 

The LBS employs local kids that try their hand at a career in cycling ( mechanical/racer/businessmen). Your warehouse employs people that look for work. No passion for the sport in question needed. Show up for work and now on which shelf you find the 29" tubes and you are good.

A larger component of you Mom and Pop stores expenses stays in the area. Warehouse stores takes the money out of the area.

 

The system is not fair/equal. the rich will get richer. That is just the way it goes. Every body fights for their piece of pie. Some gets to buy the bakery.

 

Hippie greetings.

[kosmonooit]

A bit of the track,

 

http://homegrown.24....sportsmen-2013/

 

Have a look at this article with top sport earners for 2013 in SA. Golfers in first 4 positions and way above in earnings compared to rest. Unfortunately no mtbers come close.... But then again they have lots of disposable income and are willing to fuel their hobby

 

So even if the masses like myself support mtbing, golf is still king. The US tour has also made millions of dollars in the past year and I think the most ever. So this is no dying sport (yet)

 

 

That's assuming your measure is always the most money.

 

Compare also mtb and road: there is certainly more money to be made as a pro on the road. We are talking orders of magnitude here. But some (like Sussie, Absalon and others) stuck with mtb because they enjoy themselves more in that sport, and still earn a decent living.

 

And look at the whole Armstrong fraud, that was about the money: maximising it, cutting in others...