I was recently invited to Denver to spend time with the
management team at Ouray Sportswear by Roger Landry (former Vice President of
Sales for Imperial Headwear) to discuss their entrance into the golf market.
Ouray (You-Ray) is a 48-year-old decorated sportswear
business that delivers approximately 2,000,000 units a year to resorts and
collegiate bookstores.
Knowing little else about the company and not sure how to
pronounce their name, my thoughts on the plane going west were obviously why and how were they planning to throw themselves into the fire and that
other than having the foresight to hire Roger what other assets did they have
that would make them a worthy partner to golf shop owners. After spending two
days with the Ouray owners and managers talking about the how of launching into the golf market, my attitude about the why transformed to “everyone should want
to do business with this incredibly talented and passionate team.”
It also seemed that the best way to convey this enthusiasm,
in as transparent a way as possible, was to share the conversation of these
meetings with the group which consisted of the following:
Ryan Harrington – President and part of the ownership group
Roger Landry – Vice President and General Manager of Ouray
Sportswear Golf
John Whitt – Vice President of Operations
Allison Danforth – Director, Product Design &
Development
Greg Hubbell – Creative Art Director
After touring the
facility it is obvious to me that Ouray takes a back seat to no one in ability
to design, improvise and apply art to apparel. Much of the embroidery work
being provided to golf shops these days is outsourced so it is refreshing to
have an opportunity to discuss not only revolutionary advances in application
and the efficiency of those processes but actual demographic research as to
what type of art and in what colors is appropriate for certain customer
sub-sets. What will this unique skill set mean to the golf industry?
Greg Hubbell:
We’re all very excited about Ouray Sportswear’s launch into
the golf market. In preparation, we’ve spent a lot of time working with
industry experts, golf shop owners & buyers, and sales reps, as well as
running focus groups with different golfing demographics, to dial in our
artistic direction. The input we’ve
received has helped us narrow our new golf offering to 5 vibes for 2013.
An art vibe is a genre of art that is targeted at a specific
demographic as defined by the fonts, graphic shapes, graphic sizes, colors,
textures and decorating techniques that best appeal to that target demographic.
What we’ll be presenting in Orlando is fresh, new and on trend for the golf
lifestyle.
Roger Landry:
I’ve been really impressed with how Greg’s team takes an
analytical approach to art and creates best selling graphics based on what is
working at retail. There are twenty-two
(22) production and graphic artists in-house that generate over 1,000 pieces of
new creative art per year that add to a database of 10,000 actively sold
graphics. That’s 10,000 graphics that
have never been seen before in the golf market that our reps and customers can
easily access to search, sort and develop new looks for their patrons.
John Whitt:
Not only do we have incredible art but we have world-class
domestic decoration capabilities in our 85,000 sq. ft. lean manufacturing
facility that is managed using six sigma operating principles. In addition to
standard screen print and embroidery techniques, we also domestically decorate
using soft-hand fashion inks, foil, glitter, rhinestones, over-sized prints, 3D
embroidery, tackle-twill, appliqué, woven labels, patches, heat transfers,
sublimation, and combinations of all of the above in various multi-process
techniques.
It’s important for us to lead the market with new decorating
techniques as well. Please come by booth
#4573 at the PGA Merchandise Show and see a new digital appliqué technique that
has never been done before in the golf market that will really have great applications
for women’s visors and extremely detailed club or event logos.
Roger Landry:
Again, the domestic decoration capabilities are incredible
but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that we also have incredible
international apparel and headwear supply chain partners. For example, we have dedicated capacity with
the number one headwear vendor in Asia that gives us overseas decoration
capabilities and lead times that rival anyone in the industry.
The product line of
headwear has been redeveloped for golf but just as intriguing to me is the
quality and value pricing as well as the expertise that has gone into designing
the lifestyle apparel categories that you take to your existing markets. While
the timing of any launch is never perfect, it is true that many golf retailers
are not only seeking a partner that can help them improvise or modify their
logo and its presentation but are also looking for a source for interesting
outerwear, fleece and tee shirts. Let’s talk a bit about lifestyle apparel and
what that could mean, perhaps incrementally, in golf shops.
Ryan Harrington
We first became interested in the golf market when we
learned of the typical lead times, pricing and on-time shipping records of the
incumbent headwear companies. We knew
our streamlined operation provided a real opportunity for our headwear line and
our focus on service. As we started to
present the line and received feedback from golf buyers we were blown away by
the response to our apparel offering.
Roger Landry:
Every green grass shop has dedicated a significant amount of
retail space to “on-course” apparel styles such as performance polos and
outerwear. Our apparel line allows a
club to generate incremental sales from members and guests that want to wear
“off-course” or lifestyle apparel with their club identity. Members and guests are proud of the courses
and clubs where they belong and play but they need apparel that is appropriate
or when they are watching their kids play sports, going to the beach or for a
hike, grabbing dinner with friends, celebrating the big game or simply heading
to the gym.
Allison Danforth:
That’s right Roger.
While most of our thirty-seven (37) headwear styles are perfect for the
golf course, we have refined our destination resort and collegiate product
lines to develop a golf lifestyle apparel collection.
It is a very focused
collection that merchandises well together and allows any course to develop a
real story based on our seventeen (17) Men’s and Unisex pieces and our sixteen
(16) Women’s pieces. The line consists
of a wide range of high quality t-shirts, fleece, light-weight, mid-weight,
specialty and outerwear pieces that use color and decoration to merchandise
together into tight collections. As part
of our service model, these collections can be ordered with small minimums and
regularly changed out as a way to keep things fresh and seasonal. I think I’m most excited about our unique
Women’s collection and the proprietary, specialty pieces like the Asym Hood and
our French Terry Crew that are new to golf and sized appropriately for real
women golfers.
Ryan Harrington
I agree with you Allison and I think it is important to
reinforce that these sales are incremental sales.
We have talked about
product and art. What else is being strategized to bring to the golf market
that could be seen as crystallizing a partnership? Why would a golf-shop owner
or buyer switch over to Ouray headwear and/or apparel. Said another way – What
is the blue ocean strategy?
Ryan Harrington:
As you have reminded us Craig, blue ocean strategy suggests
that an organization should create new demand in an uncontested market space,
rather than compete head-to-head with other suppliers in an existing
industry. Our lifestyle headwear and
apparel line represents a completely new and fresh entry into the golf market
that will generate incremental revenues for our customers. While I would never wear my fashion-denim
jeans to the club, I do wear them out for dinner with my family. Similarly, I would love to wear a soft-hand
t-shirt with a cool graphic identifying my club when I go out. My wife would love to wear a warm, soft,
mid-weight piece on the lake at night with a distressed treatment of the club
logo. These pieces just did not exist in
the golf market until now and represent an enormous untapped revenue stream for
our customers.
Roger Landry:
As much as I am excited about our lifestyle apparel line for
golf, I’ve been a headwear focused guy for twenty years. What makes our headwear offering fit the blue
ocean strategy? We are packaging our
tight collection of the best selling golf headwear styles and our lifestyle
apparel offering with a combination of programs tailored to offer real value to
our green grass partners.
For starters, we’ll be offering FREE UPS Ground shipping on
both headwear and apparel orders 24/7/365. In and of itself, that offers a huge
savings and enhanced margins to our customers. Beyond free shipping, however,
we have aggressive dating programs in place to support the seasonality of the
golf business.
For example, our July 10 dating program allows customers to
pre book orders for deliveries starting March 1 so that their stores are well
merchandised in the late winter and early spring with no payment due until July
10th. A similar program allows sun belt customers to begin taking deliveries
November 1st with no payment due until February 10th.
Finally, we offer incredible MOQ flexibility. Upon meeting a
low $500 initial order minimum, reorders need only be $100 or more. As Allison
mentioned earlier, this part of our service model helps our customers keep
their assortments fresh year round. Taken together, these programs are the most
compelling I’ve had the opportunity to offer in my golf career.
John Whitt:
It may not be a blue ocean strategy but our competition
doesn’t seem as focused as we are on service.
For the past four years we have maintained an on-time shipping rate over
98% and credits and returns have averaged below 1.8% of sales over the same
timeframe. Our embroidery minimums (12
pieces), screen print minimums (48 of a graphic/24 of a graphic color), and 5
business day re-order lead times allow customers to chase best sellers and add
an infinite variety to their retail selection.
High quality garments and decoration techniques are nothing without
service, service, and more service.
Roger Landry:
After 30 years in the golf industry, I joined Ouray
Sportswear because of its world class product and decoration, commitment to a
golf-specific headwear assortment, a lifestyle apparel collection that
represents an incremental sale for our customer, standard free shipping,
generous payment terms, and an incredible history of on-time shipping and
service. How can a golf-shop owner or
buyer not make the switch or at least try Ouray Sportswear in 2013?
This is a must stop
at the PGA Show, particularly to discuss as they do – lifestyle, art innovation
and a meaningful partnership opportunity as they are offering incredible dating
and free freight. Ouray will be in Booth 4573 with cocktails Thursday and
Friday afternoon which is a great time to get to know this group.
As a show special, Ouray
will be providing my services for a day of shop consultation from a drawing for
those who stop by and leave a business card. I will be there and look forward to seeing you.
