During the lockdowns, golf has seen a surge in popularity as an outdoor-themed exercise and natural social distancing activity. Consequently, there are now golf-oriented retail tenants performing especially well and expanding. There are also miniature golf-themed brands that are trending and expanding their footprints, adding a touch of upscale elegance and nighttime bar/dining ambiance to attract the millennial crowd. As lockdowns and social distancing practices ease up and people once again branch out socially, they will be more than ready to enjoy a golf-themed outing. Look for The Puttery, Drive Shack, Puttshack, Topgolf, PXG and PGA Tour Superstore to all benefit from the country’s newfound love of all things golf.
Golf Entertainment Trends
The Puttery, a smaller-scale miniature golf concept set to debut this year by the same company behind the Drive Shack brand, expects to open seven units in 2021, and ten in 2022. For 2023 and beyond, the Puttery anticipates opening about 15 to 18 new units per year until the end of 2024. Units are expected in Dallas, Charlotte, N.C., New Orleans and New York. Forecasts are strong that upcoming units will spring up in areas that are seeing a rise in millennial populations, such as Phoenix, Columbus, Ohio, and Denver. The Puttery seeks space in the 15,000- to 20,000-s.f. range in either new construction or existing retail buildings. Densely populated upscale mixed-use development projects that attract a millennial evening bar crowd are especially attractive, as the Puttery’s urban-themed concept will include a bar, a DJ and dining options. Preferred co-tenants will include other nighttime concepts with heavy foot traffic, such as bars and restaurants like The Cheesecake Factory. As for the larger Drive Shack venues, that average around 60,000 s.f., one new unit is expected this year in New York City. Three more potential units could open in New Orleans, Chicago and Newport Beach, Calif., in 2022. Drive Shack Inc., also the parent company of the American Golf brand of golf courses, has sold off its own branded golf courses to raise funds for these new smaller miniature golf concepts.
Another tech-infused miniature golf brand, Puttshack, will be opening its first unit in the U.S. by late spring with an over 25,000-s.f. space at The Interlock mixed-use development in Atlanta, developed by S.J. Collins Enterprises. Another 25,000-s.f. unit will follow in part of the former Lord & Taylor space in Chicago’s Oakbrook Center mall, as well as a three-story 29,000-s.f. unit at the Brickell City Centre mall in Miami. The mini golf entertainment/restaurant brand anticipates opening 10 to 12 new units per year starting in 2022 until the end of 2023. Puttshack, which also has four units in London, England, is actively seeking optimal potential spaces in the top MSAs. The brand targets a younger 20- to 30-something demographic with its upscale food and cocktails. Suburban locations in upscale mall spaces are also sought after. The founders of Puttshack were previously executives with Topgolf and All Star Lanes.
Topgolf is also expected to continue new U.S. growth, opening approximately 10 new units per year over the next three years. Look for the brand to open more units in Western markets, especially in California where three new units will pop up: one is expected in San Jose by year’s end, and two will open in the Los Angeles suburbs of Ontario and El Segundo in 2022. Topgolf was especially bullish last year on opening smaller units, in the 20,000- to 25,000-s.f. range, geared to smaller-sized markets (500,000 and under population), and the brand also debuted a much smaller indoor-only venue, called Lounge by Topgolf, to tap into urban markets, with a 9,200-s.f. unit that opened in Kirkland, Wash., last year. Topgolf’s usual square footage requirements are between 65,000-s.f. and 105,000-s.f.
Golf Store Brands in Expansion Mode
The PXG (aka Parsons Xtreme Golf) store, a high-end golf equipment brand, looks to open approximately five to eight new units per year over the next five years. The brand is especially eyeing potential spaces in the Northeast, focusing on sites for immediate growth in Philadelphia. PXG centers on major cities and wealthy outlying areas that have a large number of private country clubs within the vicinity. Units can be either standalone pads on urban street-front space or inline spaces in power centers and Class A regional and lifestyle center malls, with co-tenants such as Tesla and Rolex Boutique. Its size can be adaptable, as most of its units are in the 3,000- to 3,500-s.f. range, but its two most recent units are double that size: a 7,820-s.f. freestanding retail street-front unit that opened in February in Mesa, Ariz., and a 7,000-s.f. unit that opened last June at the Southdale Center indoor regional mall in Edina, Minn. Fairly new to the retail world, with its first unit opening in 2018, PXG now has seven stores. The PXG store sells its own brand of luxury golf items and apparel, in addition to providing in-store putting greens, golf simulators and customized club fitting studios.
The golf-oriented PGA Tour Superstore brand is expected to open five to 10 new units per year over the next two years. The brand is taking advantage of the increase of available big-box spaces from bankrupt tenants during COVID-19, such as Toys ‘R’ Us, Stein Mart, Bed, Bath & Beyond and Modell’s Sporting Goods. With its average stores between 30,000 and 50,000 s.f., look for PGA Tour Superstore to focus on burgeoning high-income markets near golf courses. Northeast cities will likely be targeted, especially in mid-sized communities in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and possibly even Maine, as well as the Southern states of North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. This year will see two new units in Texas (Houston and Arlington), and one in White Plains, N.Y., in addition to the 34,000-s.f. unit that just opened in late January in Natick, Mass. Sites can be standalone buildings or inline space in power regional centers, with co-tenants such as Whole Foods Market. The interior of a PGA Tour Superstore is experiential, with large putting greens, swing simulators and practice hitting bays.
