AN upswing in golfing due to the pandemic has paid dividends for a leading supplier of golf equipment as McGuirks Golf prepares to open a flagship store at Fota Retail Business Park, outside Cork City.
The 16,000sq ft outlet will be the sports retailer’s 19th shop nationwide and brings to three the number opened by McGuirks this year alone.
Regional manager David Carr said they hope to have the store up and running by mid-October/early November, in time for the busy Christmas period.
The retailer has taken a 10-year lease on Unit A1 at the Carrigtwohill business park, previously occupied by Go Safari, a children’s play zone, which opened in 2009. While Covid-19 proved a boon for the golfing industry — it’s a naturally socially distanced sport — it was catastrophic for businesses like Go Safari.
The lease taken out by McGuirks on the unit is with Box Hedge Commercials, with an address at Monahan House, on Monahan Rd, according to the Companies Registration Office. Among its directors are Alma and Edward Carey, children of the late property developer Joe Carey, who was involved in developing Fota Retail Park. He was also involved in developing Kinsale Road Commercial Park where McGuirks has a store.
Mr Carr said they currently have approximately 12 staff at their Kinsale Road operation and hope to have “in the region of 30 between the two stores” when they open later this year.
The new Carrigtwohill store will devote the ground floor (11,000 sq ft) to golfing equipment and will be the first McGuirks’ outlet to have two custom fitting bays (a process that matches clubs with golf swing).
A ladies’ section will occupy a separate 2,500sq ft mezzanine level, and a second mezzanine will be tennis-specific, with Tennis Ireland coach Val O’Grady offering customer advice. The tennis section will be about six times the size of what’s on offer at Kinsale Rd.
Mr Carr said McGuirks’ rapid expansion — a store in Wexford opened in recent weeks, along with a Drogheda store earlier this year — has been driven by the pandemic.
“What happened during lockdown was incredible for us. People who couldn’t play team sports started taking up golf. We even looked after the Leinster rugby players and kitted them out during lockdown as well as Munster player Joey Carbery.
“We had guys with young families coming to us too — a round (of golf) takes four hours, and between getting to the course and getting home again, you are talking five hours out of the house. It’s a great game for getting out,” Mr. Carr said.
The retailer is also planning a “huge facility” in Ballymount, on the south side of Dublin, where the plan is to build golf clubs on site, ready for the customer to take home before leaving the store. “It’s a concept never done in Ireland before. They’re doing it in Canada and the US and the UK so we wanted to be the first to do it here,” Mr Carr said.
To avail of the service, the customer will make an appointment and attend for a custom fit (there will be multiple bays at Ballymount). “We’ll measure them up for clubs using Trackman technology and while they are having a coffee, we will build their clubs on site,” Mr Carr said.
Once the service has been tried and tested, they will look at rolling it out to other stores. “Once we get the feel for it, customers will be able to come to our new Carrigtwohill store for a custom fit, and the details can be sent to Ballymount and the clubs delivered to their home by courier. It will be a next-day service, “Mr Carr said.
McGuirks Golf arrival to Carrigtwohill means all units in the Fota Retail Park are either occupied or let agreed, according to Cushman & Wakefield, whose agent, Philip Horgan, oversaw the lease deal.
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