An award-winning group of PGA of America Golf Professionals, AGM members and golf industry leaders gathered prior to the 2024 PGA Merchandise Show for the 17th PGA Merchandiser of the Year Conference, Jan. 20-22. In all, more than 100 attendees spent two days discussing golf business trends and ideas at Mission Resort + Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida, which hosted the event for a sixth year.
The attendees at the invitation-only event – which carried a theme of “Embracing Constant Change” – were well-acquainted with success, as the esteemed group included seven present and past national PGA Merchandiser of the Year honorees and 87 Merchandiser of the Year awards earned at the PGA Section level.
In all, attendees represented buying influence at more than 76 unique facilities with nearly $74 million in total retail sales last year.
“Everyone in this room has seen their business go through a massive amount of change over the past few years,” said Brian Folino, President of PGA Magazine, at the outset of the conference. “It’s been pretty drastic, and the award winners in this room have embraced it, and this is a chance to exchange best practices and talk about what we’ve learned going through this cycle.”
The 2024 PGA Merchandiser of the Year Conference, a part of the PGA Magazine Conference Series, began with a Saturday networking event and dinner, then kicked into high gear on Sunday with an opening panel discussion featuring the three national 2023 PGA Merchandiser of the Year Award winners: Grace Hurley, Katie Wiedmar and Ian Ziska.
Following the panel discussion, attendees at the 2024 PGA Merchandiser of the Year Conference spent the next two days participating in breakout sessions that allowed them the chance to share best practices, identify trends and discuss ways to improve their respective businesses.
This year’s breakout topics covered merchandising operations, creating buying plans, trends in leading brands, and excelling by selling accessories and gifts. The conference concluded on Monday with additional breakout sessions focused on merchandising mechanics and revisiting relationships. Each breakout session was facilitated by award-winning PGA of America Golf Professionals and industry experts.
Presenting partners of the 2024 PGA Merchandiser of the Year Conference included Cobra Puma Golf, Golf Genius Software, Mission Resort + Club, the PGA of America, Pukka, Revo, SanSoleil and Volition America. Supporting partners included Greenbriar Golf and Sterling Cut Glass.