Alecia Bell Lane is the Director of Retail at Quail West Golf & Country Club in Naples, Florida.
Alecia Bell Lane on the importance of linking fitness and golf in your business:
The link between golf and fitness has been increasing at Quail West in recent years. Quail West is not just about golf—it is a lifestyle community, and that lifestyle includes tennis, pickleball, bocce, spa days, dinner and much more. To bring fitness into that lifestyle has been simple from a retail standpoint. Many vendors recognized this trend and began to tailor their lines to accommodate lifestyle, and that is something we’ve incorporated into our golf shop. During the season, we have two full displays of fitness and tennis apparel. After all, there are many lines that cross over from golf or tennis to fitness, including Lucky in Love, Tail Tech, Jofit, inPhorm and Sofibella. We also carry the fitness line Terez, whose fun fashion-forward leggings match up to our basic shirts. Our women members sometimes choose plain leggings with colorful skirts over them, so when they finish playing golf or tennis, they can take the skirt off and work out. Another bonus to the leggings is that they provide UV protection, and with us being in Southwest Florida, this is very important to many of our members. In addition, we order basic screen-printed t-shirts and sweatshirts from a local vendor that match up with the leggings for everyday use or to wear to the gym. This helps complete our display while branding it with the Quail West logo. We have a published dress policy, so we make sure our lines also meet the Quail West standards.
Alecia Bell Lane on the business impact of linking fitness and golf in your business:
The connection between golf and fitness has become stronger for other reasons, as well. It is no secret that flexibility helps with the golf swing, and our PGA Director of Instruction, Renee O’Higgins, who has a background in body dynamics, has been making videos with our fitness department about how the two can work in tandem. The collaboration has helped marry the two: golf with fitness and fitness with golf — all as part of the Quail West lifestyle. This increased fitness and athleisure apparel presence provides for increased golf shop revenues and member participation in the many amenities we offer. In addition, as our fitness professionals collaborate with our PGA Professionals to create awareness of the benefits of golf fitness on one’s golf game, this increased knowledge will also trickle down to our golf shop over time, as demand for these new brands and styles will continue to grow, just as the relationship between fitness and golf does.
If you would like to email the author of this Best Practice directly, please email alecia.lane@quailwest.com.
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