A Decade of Golf Internet Retail in Louisiana

Lafayette, LA (PRWEB) August 2, 2006 -- Louisiana is well known for its food and festivals, but when conjuring up images of the state, the sport of golf -- and certainly a leading online golf retailer -- doesn’t usually come to mind. When the domain name google.com was available for a $35 price tag and Amazon.com and eBay were small startups, Golfballs.com was just getting its start in a warehouse in the small town of Broussard, Louisiana. Today, the company is the first golf etailer to celebrate a decade in business and is making a name for South Louisiana on the Web.

Golfballs.com has set itself apart from other golf retailers over the years by offering personalized and customized golf balls and equipment. Customers span from gift-givers to exclusive casinos and big business. "We have printed golf balls for 37 of the Fortune 100 largest companies in America," says Co-founder and President/CEO Tom Cox.

When Golfballs.com first launched online in February 1996, it went by the name Golf Ball Warehouse and sold high-quality used golf balls plucked from the lakes of golf courses across South Louisiana.

Cox says golfers were early adopters of online buying and that online buyers back then were value hunters. "High-quality used golf balls fit the bill." Transitioning Golfballs.com from the "hobby" years, in 1998 Cox raised his first round of capital from angel investors. Big sales gains occurred from 1999 to 2001 when revenues grew tenfold, leaping from $200,000 to over $2 million.

This period of success for the company unfortunately occurred during the dot-com bubble and subsequent crash, when the majority of venture-backed Internet businesses went under. "In the late ‘90s we thought being in Louisiana was a strategic and financial disadvantage," says Cox. "We were watching our competitors raise tens of millions more capital than we had access to." But the company’s home state became an advantage. "Our investors had reasonable expectations, and we were shielded from the crash. The Internet bubble did not burst in Louisiana because there was no bubble to start with," continues Cox.

Today, Golfballs.com’s core product offering has completely changed. The company no longer sells used golf balls and now specializes in corporate logo and personalized golf balls and apparel. Half of the sales generated are imprinted or embroidered in some way. The other half of the business is what you would find in your neighborhood golf shop, with top brands like Titleist®, Callaway Golf® Taylor-Made® and Nike® and a full line of balls, shoes, clubs, bags and apparel.

To ensure customers get the best online experience every time they visit, Golfballs.com continuously upgrades its website. "One of our big pushes this year is to improve our online customer experience with better product images, custom and personalized online previews and easier access to trained customer service reps," says Cox. "We have also improved our efficiency to the point that a customer can order a single item, we can embroider it or print it to their specification, and have it delivered to them within a couple of days."

What has Golfballs.com learned after 10 years? "Our business has changed from a hobby to an art form to a science," says Cox. "The one thing that has not changed is our focus on our customers. In 1996, customers wanted a unique, affordable product that they couldn’t find elsewhere, and in 2006 they want a unique personalized experience."

Email Golfballs.com Marketing Director Steven Broussard

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