Yeah, I knew Len wanted to sell out. He was tired of the unending ratrace that is the golf components business. As I recall, he and Alla bought the biz about 15 - 20 years ago from the original owners (whose names escape me) for a relatively small price. They, Len and Alla, increased sales nearly every year. Len had a lot of problems dealing with a few of the OEM shaft guys, particularly Grafalloy and AJ Tech. He made a deal with Grafalloy to take fewer than 500 shafts at a time but couldn't deal with AJ. There were a few others as well.
Len and Alla are good folks to deal with. Sad to see them leave. I hope Dr. Chris Fu didn't buy them out. He's next door to B&M. Presto Golf's the name. And Bang is in the same building as Presto. Interesting stuff. TFlan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brad Smith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2002 9:38 PM Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Golfsmith > Tom, > Fyi regarding B&M in the Los Angeles area--Len and Alla Becker, the owners, > have retired and sold their business. Met the new owner and he seems like a > nice guy. Hope the good, friendly service continues. > > Brad > > > > On 10/16/02 8:09 PM, "tflan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > This is why I like doing business with small, local companies like B&M in > > CA, for example. Also companies like Dynacraft, Maltby, Mitchell, et al are > > viable and reliable. I rarely buy from GS even though I am a "respected GCA" > > member. When I buy stuff I want it poste haste. No knocking GS's quality > > here. Its just that there are a hell of a lot of alternatives in the > > component marketplace. > > > > TFlan > > > >> I'm just guessing, but here's my pessimistic scenario: > >> > >> Golfsmith has gotten to the point with their stores plus mail-order > >> business that they are a (perhaps THE) major retailer of golf goods. The > >> component business is probably dwarfed by their OEM business -- and maybe > > by > >> any other of their lines: clothing, training, etc. > >> > >> THAT, not their dominance as the largest component supplier, is probably > >> what made them a takeover target. The new owners probably couldn't be less > >> interested in the component business. The owners are letting Carl and > > Frank > >> stick around and try to prove that it can be a money-maker, but they won't > >> get much help or support. And the "major overhaul" of the component line > > for > >> next year? I predict a major downsizing. And if the profit levels for that > >> line of business aren't at least up to the other lines, it will be gone > >> soon. > >> > >> I hope I'm wrong. > >> DaveT > >> > >
