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 From
Colin Farquharson
Lancashire-born Michelle Rennie, pictured right, married an Aberdonian
and has lived in the North-East for a number of years where she became
firm friends with Pam Wright, vice-captain of the Europe team in the last
two Solheim Cups and a Solheim Cup player before that.
Michelle has recently opened a shop in Banchory (halfway between Aboyne
and Aberdeen) that caters specifically for ladies' clothing.
Colin Farquharson has been speaking to Michelle and Pam about the venture:
COLIN: Michelle, you didn't wake up one day and say 'Hey, I'm going to
open a golf shop!" What was the build-up to it?
MICHELLE: It came about through discussing ideas with friends around golf
… more women seeming to be taking up golf but there's not the clothing
or accessories available to them.
We sort of built on that idea and thought about doing a ladies golf clothing
shop. The friends I was involved with in this sort of thinking went on
to other things but I carried on the idea.
It was just a case of waiting for the right shop premises to come on the
market.
I had no shop management experience. I had worked in the travel industry
and then I became a chiropodist to fit around my four children.
And then I was at a stage in my life when I thought "They're older now,
I could do something for me now." I took up golf three years ago, really
enjoying it and I thought I could combine a hobby with a business.
It was Innes Wright who taught myself and my husband, Sandy, to play golf,
really introduced us to the game and that's how I met Pam, through her
dad, and we became firm friends.
So I was waiting for the right location to set up the ladies golf clothing
shop. Thought about Aberdeen but you've got to pay to park there; it's
often not the most convenient place to be. I just didn't think the city
was the right setting for this kind of shop.
Pam Wright and Michelle Rennie outside the shop in Banchory
When these premises came up in Banchory, I was just delighted. It's proved
to be the right choice. Lots of tourists come to this area. I hadn't realised
there were so many and people don't mind coming out to Banchory from Aberdeen.
They like a day out.
When it was the last Aberdeen local holiday, we had a very busy day, lots
of people coming in to see what we had to offer.
We've been open since August 17 and hopefully the people who came out
to see us (on the Aberdeen holiday) will come back.
I have been trying to take in lines that are not currently in the professionals'
club shops. I think the pro shops do lots for men but there's usually
just a little corner for the ladies. To be fair, that's not the case with
all pro shops because I am sure there are some that have a bit more than
that for the ladies.
There's no point in people coming in here and seeing the same clothing
that they can see in a pro's shop. We have to try to bring in something
a bit different, that's feminine and well fitted, that they can wear on
and off the course and feel stylish and fashionable in it.
There will always be a few makes you can recognise (around the shop),
Glenmuir, Sunderland with your waterproofs for instance, but the other
clothing ranges are unique to the area.
High Street fashions are coming through in the golf clothing now. If pink's
"in" in the High Street, then people want pink here (in this shop). Anything
that's been in pink, has just gone (over the past two months).
You have to see what's going on in the High Street. It does flow through
… if striped tops are "in," then we have to cater for the public's preferences
of the moment.
Having said that, I think that people, as well as following the fashions,
still want some Classic lines. Trousers probably don't follow the fashion
quite the same. They've got to fit well and be comfortable. Whereas the
tops I think you can be a bit more flamboyant with. It's nice to have
something that's a bit different.
You don't have to be in the blacks and the navies. You can have some of
the brighter colours and feel that you are wearing something a bit more
unusual.
Michelle Rennie and Pam Wright
COLIN: Speaking as a man, I don't think what I am wearing
on a golf course necessarily has an effect on how I play but, do you think,
it's different for a girl or a woman, i.e. if she feels she is looking
nice, the feel-good factor will filter through into her golf and she will
actually play better because of it?
PAM WRIGHT: I do believe that if you feel strong in what you're wearing,
then you'll play well. Women golfers are catered for in clothing lines
much better in the United States than in Britain. I think the Continent
of Europe is also ahead of Britain in offering fashionable clothes for
lady golfers. It's the women that spend the money.
Most of the clothes than male golfers wear, unless they are Jesper Parnevik,
don't stand out, they don't want to stand out in a crowd. With the ladies,
it's different. We're talking about things they can wear after the round
of golf or just to go out with your friends. Ladies golf shops have a
dual purpose.
MICHELLE: I did a lot of research into ladies golf clothing on the American
websites, trying, among other things, to find some more unusual suppliers
and I soon realised that they are far more adventurous in the lines that
they offer to women golfers, things like tops with gold lame … which I'm
not quite sure would go well over here..
PAM: Of course, the weather is usually warmer for much longer over in
the States than here in Scotland in the golfing season. Regular, guaranteed
sunshine does tend to encourage the wearing of bright colours.
MICHELLE: Women tend to dress up more for golf in America; they would
want to have their hair and the make-up just right before they step on
that first tee, whereas here in Britain lady golfers are not worrying
so much. It's a different market.
COLIN: Can golf shops like yours dictate in a way to ladies what they
will wear in the coming year?
MICHELLE: I don't think you can make people wear this or that. What you
have to do is introduce new things slowly. And let people know clothing
ranges are out there and what styles, and what colours.
I know already some people have come in, wanting bright red or bright
yellow golf shoes ... they also want some bright coloured tops so the
trend to wear brighter things on a golf course is starting to hit over
here.
COLIN: I know in taking photographs, mainly of men, in action that the
trend over the past year or two has been towards all-black waterproof
suits, which does not show up so well in pictures. I wish men would start
wearing different coloured waterproofs.
MICHELLE: Well, I'm glad to say that even in waterproof suits, which have
been traditionally of darker colours, things are beginning to change.
I am getting quite a higher percentage of people coming in looking for
a bright red waterproof suit or bright pink.
They don't want the blacks and the navies anymore. That's what I'm looking
at now so, hopefully, for the spring, we'll have bright coloured waterproofs
in stock.
They watch the pros on the TV wearing these bright things and some people
want to mimic them.
COLIN: Was it a bit of a gamble opening a golf clothing shop specifically
for women?
MICHELLE: I think everbody's slightly nervous when they do something new
and I'm no different but I think from research and speaking about it,
I felt reasonably confident that the shop would go well because there
is not another shop offering these things in the North-east of Scotland.
The next nearest shop stocking these ladies' golf clothing lines to us
in Banchory is down in Edinburgh
PAM WRIGHT. It's a missed market.
Photos and text Copyright © Cal Carson Golf Agency
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