Possible Disc golf store coming to Charlotte

[Jonathan K.]

Dead set on Charlotte?

Are you definitely set on Charlotte? I would suggest looking into the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area. Disc golf is huge in that area too, and I think there would be plenty of support for what you are envisioning. There are several major universities (UNC, Duke, NCSU, NC Central) all within 15 miles of each other which gives you an awesome younger crowd base. Not to mention, Greensboro is only 30 minutes away as well. The triangle are does have several really nice courses, but for its size, it could definitely use a few more courses.

 

[grodney]

Hi, We are Fly Line Discs and we currently are looking for a place to open our first store ever and we are targeting Charlotte nc or or somewhere else. Where do you all think a disc golf only store would make it? Do you think Charlotte would be a good location? We would have league day and doubles night one day in the week. We also will have an ace pool up and we will alternate doubles and league day courses. We also are considering on having a driving thing like what airborne has where we can see how fast your throwing and we are also considering on an indoor putting league. We are also targeting on a possible disc golf resort with 4 championship courses,a pro shop,driving range,lighted for night play and maybe a beginner 9 or 18 hole course. The resort would be a few years beyond the store of course. Who would be willing to help donate and support both projects that we want to get done.

 

[General BP]

Are you definitely set on Charlotte? I would suggest looking into the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area. Disc golf is huge in that area too, and I think there would be plenty of support for what you are envisioning. There are several major universities (UNC, Duke, NCSU, NC Central) all within 15 miles of each other which gives you an awesome younger crowd base. Not to mention, Greensboro is only 30 minutes away as well. The triangle are does have several really nice courses, but for its size, it could definitely use a few more courses.

I would say this is another great option. The Play it Agains in North Raleigh and Cary don't have nearly the disc selection that is in Charlotte's PIA. A store up there could easily take over as the number 1 location to get discs. There was a shop south of NCSU but it was bought soon after opening. As far as I could tell, it was doing really well.

 

[Spinthrift]

Kevin's quite serious. A CDGC officer, he runs one of the quickest-filling, best-reputation events in Charlotte's 21-Hole Salute at RL Smith.

 

[grodney]

Kevin's quite serious. A CDGC officer, he runs one of the quickest-filling, best-reputation events in Charlotte's 21-Hole Salute at RL Smith.

FlyLine is Kevin? That OP doesn't read like anything he's ever written before, and he has an account on DGCR under a different name. And wouldn't he already know about Charlotte?

Anyway, weird. It was just a strange post.

 

[DavidSauls]

More generally speaking, I have my doubts about a stand-alone disc store, but believe its best chance would be to be located very close to a course that gets a lot of play from casual players. Close enough that dropping in before or after a round is no trouble at all. And non-tournament players are likely better customers than tournament regulars, who win a bunch of plastic if they're Ams, and often have easy buying opportunities at every tournament they attend.

I'm not sure how much competition with a big box store matters. A disc golf store has a great cultural and service advantage and, unless you're set up very close to that big box store, for many players you'll be closer and more convenient, and the longer drive to your competition won't be justified by the small price savings. Besides, if there's a market big enough to support a stand-alone disc store, then sooner or later competition will come.

 

[Spinthrift]

FlyLine is Kevin? That OP doesn't read like anything he's ever written before, and he has an account on DGCR under a different name. And wouldn't he already know about Charlotte?

Anyway, weird. It was just a strange post.

Grodney - My bad. Kevin says it's not him. So, strange continues. . .

 

[Old Dog]

It's really sad when you think about it. Ball golfers have numerous brick and mortar stores dedicated solely to their sport complete with knowledgeable professional sales staff and practice greens and driving simulators so you can try out their wares before you plop down your money.

And what do we have? For the most part we get the back wall of a second hand sporting goods store or a corner in a head shop who's main merchandise lines are bongs and crack pipes. :\

Wonder why "Frolf" isn't taken seriously.

 

[luckless_pedestrian]

The Exit 25/28 area would be ideal. lots of courses around and really no competition. I think pretty much any store around there could do what Cape Fear Games in Wilmington has done. In a small area they have racks from Innova, Discraft, Gateway, MVP, Vibram, Trilogy, Legacy, and even UB.

 

[1978]

I think the idea is bigger than just the store...its to create a DG destination. Store, driving range, courses, day and night events/leagues. He mentioned resort in the post. Sounds like a place people could travel to Charlotte and stay at or visit if they lived in Charlotte...like the IDGC but with even more variety. Looks like from the OP he is trying to think much bigger than we are... in this thread. I think you need the other stuff to make the stand alone store work.

 

[bhadella]

I agree with Mark, you would have to move a ton of plastic to make having a dedicated store a reality. I think "sharing space" is way more realistic financially unless you have a "footprint" at a course that doesn't require rent. Way less overhead if you can share space and employees.

Let's say the average "markup" of a disc is $8. And for discussions sake, let's say your outlay for a store is $2000 including rent, ulitities, insurance, etc. And let's plan on a $8 an hour employee standing behind the counter 8 hrs a day, 7 days a week (another $2,000). You would need $4,000 of "markup" to cover just the expenses. Let's say the average "markup" of a disc is $6. That's 667 discs just to breakeven (22 a day). If you want a resonable profit (to pay yourself for managing the business) of $10,000; you would need another 1667 discs of sales. That's 78 discs a day to have to move to make it worth the outlay.

 

[Wormus]

I agree with the others who recommend something off of 485 on the north side of town. I'd definitely support a retail store in that area. Preferably a store with a strong retail website.

This. The north side of town is lacking from a retail point of view in my opinion. Stock at a place like Infinity's End is random and lacking.

 

[dbanderson]

Sounds very similar to the recent proposal in MN to raise funds for a resort type plan. Except this one isn't asking for investors, just info.

 

[grodney]

Donators, not investors. Read the final sentence.

 

[Old Dog]

I agree with Mark, you would have to move a ton of plastic to make having a dedicated store a reality. I think "sharing space" is way more realistic financially unless you have a "footprint" at a course that doesn't require rent. Way less overhead if you can share space and employees.

Let's say the average "markup" of a disc is $8. And for discussions sake, let's say your outlay for a store is $2000 including rent, ulitities, insurance, etc. And let's plan on a $8 an hour employee standing behind the counter 8 hrs a day, 7 days a week (another $2,000). You would need $4,000 of "markup" to cover just the expenses. Let's say the average "markup" of a disc is $6. That's 667 discs just to breakeven (22 a day). If you want a resonable profit (to pay yourself for managing the business) of $10,000; you would need another 1667 discs of sales. That's 78 discs a day to have to move to make it worth the outlay.

Kill joy

 

[General BP]

Sounds very similar to the recent proposal in MN to raise funds for a resort type plan. Except this one isn't asking for investors, just info.

This was my first thought as well

 

[sprintermatt]

with ___teen courses, Charlotte could support a shop, but not a detination... I think those who prefer to play off the public courses head to Brackett's.

 

[shawny0123]

It's really sad when you think about it. Ball golfers have numerous brick and mortar stores dedicated solely to their sport complete with knowledgeable professional sales staff and practice greens and driving simulators so you can try out their wares before you plop down your money.

And what do we have? For the most part we get the back wall of a second hand sporting goods store or a corner in a head shop who's main merchandise lines are bongs and crack pipes. :\

Wonder why "Frolf" isn't taken seriously.

Ball Golfers are also dropping thousands of dollars on new clubs not $10-20 on a disc...the clientel and cash flow between the sports is completely different, it's as simple as that. You simply make more money on ball golf equipment plus driving ranges make money on balls you pay money to hit, there is no business model in disc golf that works like that. Even the actual brick and mortar stores of some of the biggest online disc golf retailers really aren't that big and/or impressive in the grand scheme of things.

 

[gradus]

Sounds very similar to the recent proposal in MN to raise funds for a resort type plan. Except this one isn't asking for investors, just info.

This one. $3,380 raised and only $993,620 to go. :doh:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/megadisc-disc-golf-resort

Are there examples of P2P where land was bought specifically for the course? Earning enough to pay debt service, expenses, taxes? The few examples I know about are land already owned and someone offsetting their cost to support their hobby.

 

[luckless_pedestrian]

No responses from OP leads to to believe this is not serious.

I still say some brick-and-mortar store in the Huntersville/Cornelius/Davidson area could do well adding a quality disc selection at good prices.