Golfsmith in Fairfax, VA

[Puppetmaster]

New store opening in May 2012?

Anyone hear about this? Golfsmith in Fairfax. I just heard about it today. I don't have an opinion either way, but it is so close to my house I can actually walk there, so that's nice. Sure beats going to the GG in Fair Lakes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/golfsmith-opening-multiple-stores-in-washington-area/2012/02/01/gIQAMN19rQ_story.html


http://fairfaxcity.patch.com/articles/golfsmith-to-occupy-empty-border-s-space<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">

[tbowles411]

[Puppetmaster]

I see it now...

Golfsmith manager "Who are these idiots hogging our simulator, asking if it is juiced, and requesting 7 deg drivers cranked 3 degs open with XX shafts?"

[jafishe3]

I'll stick to Golfdom. They've always been top notch in my opinion.

[SHIVAN]

The more golf stores, the better. I have my favorite(s), but I do welcome a better selection/competition.

[Puppetmaster]

Definitely, I just want someplace close to go browse and see stuff in person... then I'll come back to the BST... just kidding. Maybe.

Actually, I do tend to pick up balls, tees, towels, umbrellas, etc from local stores and pro shops.

[Shooter_McGavin]

about time. like you've mentioned, the drive to fair lakes from kingstowne is getting old

[Carolina Golfer 2]

Wait a frickin minute!!!! You NOVA guys already have one in Tysons, now you're getting one in Fairfax. HELLO...anybody ever hear of Maryland

Funny thing is I was just going to start a new thread about the Edwin Watts in Sears inside Columbia Town Center closing down. I can't say I'm shocked I never thought that would be a good location and every friday night when I walked by there, NOBODY was there, and the sales guy was usually just sitting at the computer probably reading GolfWrx !!

Has anyone heard about one coming to Maryland?

[SHIVAN]

I hope the new one has more than four bays, maybe a "Super" GS like the one I went to in Raleigh with Tennis, etc?

[Puppetmaster]

I'm honestly not sure what the thinking behind it is, but maybe I'm just ignorant. With eBay, online retailers, etc, how are these big box stores making money? The overheads seem like they are huge and traffic is low. Unless the markups on what they do sell is large enough, I don't see how they are making enough money to justify open more stores.

Anyway, I'm not complaining, I now have GG and DSG at Fairlakes, GS across the street, Sports Authority down the street (their golf section is actually nicely stocked but dead, literally) and Golfdom AND GS at Tysons. I didn't even think the golf market in this area was that hot. I guess the 5-6 hour rounds and most courses here on weekends should have been a big hint. Haha.

[Big L]

When I'm visiting my in-laws in Chantilly, I always find time to head over to Tysons to browse at Golfsmith and drool at Golfdom. Now that they're building one in Fairfax, I won't have to get on 495 and deal with that construction (Thank God)

I'm surprised they're building so many in Nova. I live in Richmond and all we have is a Golf Galaxy and a few Dick's sporting goods. They could do some good business if they built one on the southside of Richmond (GG is North) and maybe another one in the Williamsburg, Va. Beach area.

[Goldenhawk]

Well now. I guess Golf Galaxy and Golfsmith will go at it. That Borders space is huge, so it's going to have to be a superstore or they will sublet some of the space.

The one in Sterling will probably open in the vacant Books-A-Million space next to Michael's at the other end of the mall from Target.

Edit: In the end, I still Golfdom still has it's niche. They have a lot more of the clothing and soft goods to sell than the others.

[mul1gan]

[quote name='Carolina Golfer 2' timestamp='1333376198' post='4629761']
Wait a frickin minute!!!! You NOVA guys already have one in Tysons, now you're getting one in Fairfax. HELLO...anybody ever hear of Maryland

Funny thing is I was just going to start a new thread about the Edwin Watts in Sears inside Columbia Town Center closing down. I can't say I'm shocked I never thought that would be a good location and every friday night when I walked by there, NOBODY was there, and the sales guy was usually just sitting at the computer probably reading GolfWrx !!

Has anyone heard about one coming to Maryland?
[/quote]


Taxes were probably too high......

[Carolina Golfer 2]

[quote name='mul1gan' timestamp='1333460289' post='4637949']
[quote name='Carolina Golfer 2' timestamp='1333376198' post='4629761']
Wait a frickin minute!!!! You NOVA guys already have one in Tysons, now you're getting one in Fairfax. HELLO...anybody ever hear of Maryland

Funny thing is I was just going to start a new thread about the Edwin Watts in Sears inside Columbia Town Center closing down. I can't say I'm shocked I never thought that would be a good location and every friday night when I walked by there, NOBODY was there, and the sales guy was usually just sitting at the computer probably reading GolfWrx !!

Has anyone heard about one coming to Maryland?
[/quote]


Taxes were probably too high......
[/quote]
Well now, there you have a point. It seems MD has lost out to VA with a lot of the major companies that relocated to the area in the past few years, Hilton and VW to name just two.

[Puppetmaster]

[quote name='Carolina Golfer 2' timestamp='1333460446' post='4637971']
[quote name='mul1gan' timestamp='1333460289' post='4637949']
Taxes were probably too high......
[/quote]
Well now, there you have a point. It seems MD has lost out to VA with a lot of the major companies that relocated to the area in the past few years, Hilton and VW to name just two.
[/quote]

Let me know when you move down to VA... we need to get a few rounds in with the other local WRXers...

[Carolina Golfer 2]

[quote name='Puppetmaster' timestamp='1333461690' post='4638083']
[quote name='Carolina Golfer 2' timestamp='1333460446' post='4637971']
[quote name='mul1gan' timestamp='1333460289' post='4637949']
Taxes were probably too high......
[/quote]
Well now, there you have a point. It seems MD has lost out to VA with a lot of the major companies that relocated to the area in the past few years, Hilton and VW to name just two.
[/quote]

Let me know when you move down to VA... we need to get a few rounds in with the other local WRXers...



[/quote]
I don't think I'll be moving to VA. My next move will likely be our last and it will be further south than NOVA, either Florida or back to NC. But that doesn't prohibit me from coming down for a round or two.

I was speakng to BubbaGump in another thread about getting down there sometime this summer. I'd love to get a round with you, bubba and Tbowles. I think I could deal hanging with 3 NOVA guys !! After all I did live in Alexandria for a couple years when I first moved to the area about 20 years ago.

[Puppetmaster]

Haha, I know, I was kidding. Yes, we need to get some folks together, there are a few other VA WRXers like SHIVAN, jokerusn, etc who have expressed interest in a WRX outing.

[Carolina Golfer 2]

Yeah, I figured that, I forgot my wink emoticon as well. Hey if and when you put somethng together let me know and I hopefully will be able to make it. I would give you a list of dates that aren't good for me, but it would fill up this thread, unfortunately my April, May and June seem already booked.

One date, that I'm pretty confident I will be playing down there is Sunday June 17th at Laurel Hills. We have a tournament there on Monday the 18th and a few of the guys that haven't played it before want to go down and see the course the day before. That's also fathers day and the final day of the US Open, so we were thinknig around a noon tee time or something to finish by 4:00 or 5:00. Then catch the last round of the US Open. Since it's in San Francisco, they will be having a prime time finish I believe so leaders probably will be teeing off around 4:00 or so.

I'll keep you guys posted on that if anyone wants to join in on that Sunday.

[40simguy]

I came home and did a quick search after catching a glance of the sign on my way by there yesterday. So I pulled it up on the GS website and it said "closed". Oh no!!!! It already went boots up???? Whew, glad to see it's actually a new location. I'm with a few others here, I use these locations to browse and grope the new equipment and also usually buy accessories from the store rather than online. So seeing this was great news

[Goldenhawk]

OK. The store in Fairfax is indeed in the old Border's space. Huge store and it will open by the middle of May. The store in Sterling is not in the old Books-A-Million space. It's right next to Target. Smaller store than the one in Fairfax.

[tbowles411]

[quote name='Carolina Golfer 2' timestamp='1333466756' post='4638757']
Yeah, I figured that, I forgot my wink emoticon as well. Hey if and when you put somethng together let me know and I hopefully will be able to make it. I would give you a list of dates that aren't good for me, but it would fill up this thread, unfortunately my April, May and June seem already booked.

One date, that I'm pretty confident I will be playing down there is Sunday June 17th at Laurel Hills. We have a tournament there on Monday the 18th and a few of the guys that haven't played it before want to go down and see the course the day before. That's also fathers day and the final day of the US Open, so we were thinknig around a noon tee time or something to finish by 4:00 or 5:00. Then catch the last round of the US Open. Since it's in San Francisco, they will be having a prime time finish I believe so leaders probably will be teeing off around 4:00 or so.

I'll keep you guys posted on that if anyone wants to join in on that Sunday.
[/quote]
Did someone mention golf?!

[Puppetmaster]

[quote name='Goldenhawk' timestamp='1334322226' post='4713828']
OK. The store in Fairfax is indeed in the old Border's space. Huge store and it will open by the middle of May. The store in Sterling is not in the old Books-A-Million space. It's right next to Target. Smaller store than the one in Fairfax.
[/quote]

Yup, that Border's space is HUGE, I'm getting excited to see how GS uses it.

I'll be down at Golfdom tomorrow for a Callaway fitting, first time back in that store since 2005, lol. I hate going to Tysons on the weekend. Or ever.

[Goldenhawk]

[quote name='Puppetmaster' timestamp='1334326059' post='4714184']
[quote name='Goldenhawk' timestamp='1334322226' post='4713828']
OK. The store in Fairfax is indeed in the old Border's space. Huge store and it will open by the middle of May. The store in Sterling is not in the old Books-A-Million space. It's right next to Target. Smaller store than the one in Fairfax.
[/quote]

Yup, that Border's space is HUGE, I'm getting excited to see how GS uses it.

I'll be down at Golfdom tomorrow for a Callaway fitting, first time back in that store since 2005, lol. I hate going to Tysons on the weekend. Or ever.
[/quote]

Are you getting a RAZR Fit? I think Matt is the only one doing fittings at Golfdom right now. The other person that does fitting, Kevin, left for Golfsmith is will be managing the Fairfax store.


You know the funny thing is, Golfdom is reporting increased foot traffic and sales since Golfsmith opened a few blocks away.

[Puppetmaster]

[quote name='Goldenhawk' timestamp='1334326337' post='4714218']
[quote name='Puppetmaster' timestamp='1334326059' post='4714184']
[quote name='Goldenhawk' timestamp='1334322226' post='4713828']
OK. The store in Fairfax is indeed in the old Border's space. Huge store and it will open by the middle of May. The store in Sterling is not in the old Books-A-Million space. It's right next to Target. Smaller store than the one in Fairfax.
[/quote]

Yup, that Border's space is HUGE, I'm getting excited to see how GS uses it.

I'll be down at Golfdom tomorrow for a Callaway fitting, first time back in that store since 2005, lol. I hate going to Tysons on the weekend. Or ever.
[/quote]

Are you getting a RAZR Fit? I think Matt is the only one doing fittings at Golfdom right now. The other person that does fitting, Kevin, left for Golfsmith is will be managing the Fairfax store.

You know the funny thing is, Golfdom is reporting increased foot traffic and sales since Golfsmith opened a few blocks away.
[/quote]

Yup, it's really just for me to demo the Razr Fit and see how it does against my RHT, so just partial fitting I guess, and it will be with Matt.

[dcmidnight]

Oh yeah, the drive from Kingstowne to the Golfsmith in Tysons is brutal during the week. Why cant there be a decent golf place in Kingstowne. But I'll be glad if this Fairfax store is similar in size.

I'm not usually a big fan of big box stores but I've been really happy with the (cough) several times I've made purchases at Golfsmith. They have a great selection of just about everything and seem to be around when you need help but they dont hover. Last week my girlfriend was demoing some drivers and I was fixing the little simulator box - couple of GS workers walked by, first guy says hey you need some help, second one says, dont worry, he probably knows how to run this thing better than either of us do. lol.

I dont care for Golfdom at all. Attitude of the people that work there always rubs me the wrong way. Used to go there if I was looking for any J Lindberg, Travis Matthew type stuff - but GS carries that stuff now too. Cant think of any reason I'd go there. To be fair I did have a great fitting in their Callaway center a couple of years ago when they ran a Groupon special, guy that did it was really nice and definitely knew his stuff.

[Puppetmaster]

[quote name='dcmidnight' timestamp='1334338145' post='4715440']
I dont care for Golfdom at all. Attitude of the people that work there always rubs me the wrong way. Used to go there if I was looking for any J Lindberg, Travis Matthew type stuff - but GS carries that stuff now too. Cant think of any reason I'd go there. To be fair I did have a great fitting in their Callaway center a couple of years ago when they ran a Groupon special, guy that did it was really nice and definitely knew his stuff.
[/quote]

That's how I felt 7 years ago, the last time I was in there. I wouldn't be going back if not for the Callaway fitting.

[Goldenhawk]

[quote name='dcmidnight' timestamp='1334338145' post='4715440']
Oh yeah, the drive from Kingstowne to the Golfsmith in Tysons is brutal during the week. Why cant there be a decent golf place in Kingstowne. But I'll be glad if this Fairfax store is similar in size.

I'm not usually a big fan of big box stores but I've been really happy with the (cough) several times I've made purchases at Golfsmith. They have a great selection of just about everything and seem to be around when you need help but they dont hover. Last week my girlfriend was demoing some drivers and I was fixing the little simulator box - couple of GS workers walked by, first guy says hey you need some help, second one says, dont worry, he probably knows how to run this thing better than either of us do. lol.

I dont care for Golfdom at all. Attitude of the people that work there always rubs me the wrong way. Used to go there if I was looking for any J Lindberg, Travis Matthew type stuff - but GS carries that stuff now too. Cant think of any reason I'd go there. To be fair I did have a great fitting in their Callaway center a couple of years ago when they ran a Groupon special, guy that did it was really nice and definitely knew his stuff.
[/quote]

That Callaway fitting at Golfdom was probably with Adam. He's now doing club fittings for the tour trailer at 1757.

I think the Fairfax GS store will be a lot larger than the Tysons store. The GS in Sterling is similar in size to the Tysons store.

[ray635]

Golfsmith opened a store in Timonium, MD.
[b]
[/b]

[Carolina Golfer 2]

[quote name='tbowles411' timestamp='1334325281' post='4714106']
[quote name='Carolina Golfer 2' timestamp='1333466756' post='4638757']
Yeah, I figured that, I forgot my wink emoticon as well. Hey if and when you put somethng together let me know and I hopefully will be able to make it. I would give you a list of dates that aren't good for me, but it would fill up this thread, unfortunately my April, May and June seem already booked.

One date, that I'm pretty confident I will be playing down there is Sunday June 17th at Laurel Hills. We have a tournament there on Monday the 18th and a few of the guys that haven't played it before want to go down and see the course the day before. That's also fathers day and the final day of the US Open, so we were thinknig around a noon tee time or something to finish by 4:00 or 5:00. Then catch the last round of the US Open. Since it's in San Francisco, they will be having a prime time finish I believe so leaders probably will be teeing off around 4:00 or so.

I'll keep you guys posted on that if anyone wants to join in on that Sunday.
[/quote]
Did someone mention golf?!
[/quote]

heck yeah, put it in the books!!

So speaking of GolfSmith. I was in Tampa the past 5 days and I stopped in their store. Big Beautiful store, lots of demo clubs to hit and all. It was the middle of a weekday so it was pretty slow in there. I was wearing a US Open polo and one of the sales guys struck up a conversation about it.

Turns out his son lives in Sterling and he has heard about the NOVA stores opening. I told him I had been to Tysons and he asked how it was compared to his. I told him, they don't even compare, but it is nice to have GS up this way. he said he'll be up in June and is going to check the new ones out.

The Tampa store was unbelievable, and on the same street they had an Edwin Watts and a place called Golf Locker Room. It was more apparael than equipment, but it had a ton of good stuff.

[Carolina Golfer 2]

[quote name='ray635' timestamp='1334477056' post='4724486']
Golfsmith opened a store in Timonium, MD.
[b]
[/b]
[/quote]

I saw that right before I left for Florida, I was away during the opening, but will check it out this week most likely. I don't work too far from there.