Ping has the largest
and most diverse introduction of new products in its 40-year history, from
blades to fairway woods to a 2½-pound bag it calls the Mantis.
Maxfli is launching
a new bag that could make walking 18 holes seem like backpacking, minus
the mountains. Spalding is offering a new line of the Hogan Apex irons
that have cavity backs and perimeter weighting and yet still are forged.
What do these companies
have in common?
None will be in Las
Vegas in four weeks for the International Golf Show, which is expected
to attract nearly 20,000 industry types. Titleist and Taylor Made won't
be there, either.
They are among several
companies that are beginning to wonder if the golf equipment industry really
needs two major trade shows each year.
Instead of the flashing
lights and snappy booths in the Las Vegas Convention Centre, they are going
about their business the old-fashioned way.
"We've just finished
our sales meeting. We've put our guys on the road," said Jackie Beck of
Spalding Sports, which is skipping the Vegas show for the second straight
year. "Our time is more productive out in the field with the customers."
Ping is going in the
same direction. Its national and international sales staff has been in
Phoenix the past two weeks. Chairman John Solheim and other top officials
are on a national tour with key media to show them their products, while
the sales staff will seek out the retail accounts -- instead of hoping
the business comes to them in Las Vegas.
In fact, even though
Ping's headquarters is a short hop from Las Vegas, it may never return
to the International show.
"The way things are
now, it's likely we won't attend in the future," Solheim said. "The show
never has been a critical part of the selling process. We're going to do
some advertising and use our sales forces to meet face to face with the
retail account. I really believe there should be only one show."
Solheim was referring
to the PGA Merchandise Show -- THE show, some say -- which takes places
in Orlando, Fla., the first part of the year. No manufacturer would dare
miss the Orlando show, and most spare no expense.
The number of exhibitors
was at a record 1,406 in January with more than 50,000 people in the Orange
County Convention Centre.
"The Orlando show
serves as a world-wide show. No one in the industry can afford to miss
it," said Edward Hughes, vice president of marketing for Maxfli. "From
our perspective, the strength of Orlando gives us such a strong trade show
that it is sufficient. I think that's why the power companies have all
pulled out of Las Vegas."
It's not like the
Las Vegas Convention Centre will be empty.
Callaway Golf is the
biggest name among the 800 exhibitors expected to show its latest wares
in September. Callaway has a new set of irons with a tungsten matrix that
is designed so they don't compete with the popular X-12 irons.
But the big product
on the shelf -- the Callaway ball -- won't be launched until early next
year in Orlando.
Orlimar and Adams,
which has been battling Callaway the past two years, will also be in Las
Vegas, along with companies like Cleveland Golf and relative newcomer Pure
Spin.
"We're going because
we believe there's going to be a lot of buyers there. It's that simple,"
said Bruce Parker, head of sales for Callaway. "We've been going to the
show since its inception and we've done quite well there, so we're going
to continue to go."
The Las Vegas show
actually was started by the Southern California PGA Section in 1980 and
was primarily a regional affair. The PGA of America bought the rights to
the show in 1992, moved it to Las Vegas in 1995 and then sold the rights
of both shows to Reed Exhibition in 1998 for $122 million.
"The Merchandise Show
has become very well known as the place to launch, and so it's a place
companies feel like they have to be," said Gail Billingsley, marketing
director for both shows.
The Vegas show is
typically important for soft goods, such as apparel. And some companies
find the fall show much more valuable because of the additional exposure
they get from buyers compared to the circuslike atmosphere in Orlando.
Billingsley has heard
the tale of consolidating to one show, but she doesn't see it as practical.
"If you were to ask
across the board whether to have one or two shows, many people are going
to say one," she said. "But to get them all to agree on one?"
Some companies feel
they have no choice, especially in a market that has taken its lumps over
the past 18 months. Maxfli went to Las Vegas last year because it was ready
to restart its club business.
This year is different.
"It's hard to justify
economically two majors shows a year," Hughes said. "You've seen a lot
of restructuring of major golf organisation's, and you have to look at
the expense. And as more companies are not going, a lot of customers are
not going.
"Then it becomes a
chicken-and-egg situation."
But while Ping is
hawking its first non-offset irons and Titleist take its Prestige ball
straight to its buyers, the show will go on in Las Vegas. Billingsley concedes
it has become a regional show, but an important show nonetheless.
"I guarantee you the
show will be here 10 years from now," she said. ``It will go on because
it's the lifeblood of the small and midsize companies."
