December 1, 2017 – The official opening is scheduled for the beginning of December, but the new Golfriend’s is already up and running. The golf store of reference on the Spanish Costa del Sol, which we visited and wrote about in 2013 due to its spectacular nature and personal character, has once again taken a qualitative leap in all aspects, in a project developed during the last couple of months and that has meant an investment of half a million Euro.

The expansion of the store, located in the Mustang Shopping Centre in Estepona, Malaga, has been carried out with great attention to detail. The involvement of a local modern design architect and a cutting edge lighting company, added to an intelligent distribution of the product, has doubled the use of space to accommodate the collections of clothing and footwear on the first floor, but above all, to display the entire range of golf clubs of each brand on the new ground floor.

Improved services like the fitting range and the workshop, or with innovative details such artificial turf carpets, the first circular LED 360º screen in Spain or the vertical garden next to the stairs, make the clients to feel welcome in a friendly and attractive environment, surrounded by everything a golfer could wish for.

We interviewed Antonio Valle, its Manager, to hear about the start of this new stage for Golfriend’s.

MYGOLFWAY: Why has Golfriend’s been refurbished? What is the objective?

ANTONIO VALLE: We have expanded Golfriend’s through necessity. We are on the Costa del Sol, which is the Costa del Golf, and we are in a high demand area. Over time we have specialized more and more and as we have all the best golf brands in the market, we thought that the display needed to be even bigger. The only way to do it was through this extension. Basically, we want to offer a better service and present each brand well, with the widest assortment of products possible.

MGW: What does the expansion represent in terms of surface?

AV: From the 350 square metres that we had before, now we have moved up to 700 square metres between the two floors. We’ve taken advantage of the space that used to be a garage, on the ground floor, to transform it into a shop floor. All the hard golf equipment, golf balls, gloves, accessories… we have put down below, while everything to do with clothing and golf shoe collections is now more appropriately presented on the floor above.

MGW: With so much equipment and more space, the staff has to be very well prepared to cater for golfers who come from all over the world to play on the Costa del Sol.

AV: Currently we are 12 people who work in Golfriend’s, four men and six women working in turns to serve clients from all nationalities. Then there is one person exclusively for the website and Amazon, and I am here all day. Here we deal with clients in English, German, French, Russian and, of course, Spanish.

MGW: What has the refurbishment of the golf shop meant in terms of services?

AV: Well, we already had all the services but now, with the refurbishment, we have expanded the workshop above all. Now it is bigger, we have practically all the machines and tools for the loft and lie of putters as well as irons, the swingweight, etc. and we can now say that we have a golf workshop as it should be. We also have some 200 square metres of putting green. And on the range with a simulator two people fit easily, although one client will use it at a time, as he or she will be most comfortable that way. We use the new FlightScope X3, which has just come out and is better suited to the space, and we can also analyze the putting.

MGW: Do you still have the same philosophy that differentiates you from other stores?

AV: Our main difference is still our product offer. We think that it is important to have a wide assortment of all the main golf brands in the market, those that are most fashionable, so that every golfer finds what he looks for or needs.

For example, we are the only golf shop in Spain that has the two main Japanese brands for sale at the same time, when other shops are asked for exclusivity. But we work with all leading brands such as Callaway Golf, Cleveland Golf, Cobra Golf, Honma, Mizuno, Odyssey, PING, PXG, Scotty Cameron, Srixon, TaylorMade Golf, Titleist, XXIO and Wilson Golf.

It is not that we have added new brands inside the store, because we have the same ones we already had, but they are all better presented. What we have done is to extend the range of each of them, both in terms of clubs and clothing and golf shoes, with more complete collections.

MGW: Regarding the distribution by product category, what are Golfriend’s percentages?

AV: We are currently billing approximately 60% in hard golf equipment and 40% in apparel and footwear, accessories and other things. It is also true that we now have more space to present clothing and shoes and this may change. The space is much wider, so the display of the offer is better.

MGW: What would you highlight of the spectacular design? Have you worked on the refurbishment with an architect?

AV: Yes, Alfonso Castellon is an architect and creative interior designer from here, in the Guadalmina area (Malaga), whose studio is working on more modern and daring designs for refurbishments. The truth is that he did the first reform and we liked it a lot. It worked very well, so we decided to go back to him again. Then we had the opportunity to work with Simón Lighting, a Spanish company of LED lighting for which we serve as a showroom, to display their types of professional interior lighting.

We also have a 360º LED screen that has been a good investment, around the column of the ground floor.

This is the first and only circular TV screen in Spain, where what we do is announce the latest and most recent products of the golf brands.

And then there is the vertical garden. This has been a very successful idea of ​​the architect. Since we have so many square meters of artificial turf on the ground with the putting green, we wanted to give continuity to nature, which is so closely linked to the golf world, using the colour green, and so we brought nature into the shop.

MGW: Does Golfriend’s aspire to become the best golf store in Spain?

AV: With this reform we aren’t trying to be one of the best golf shops in Spain. Our intention is not to compete with anyone, but to do things well and make them look good. Then it is the client who decides what he likes best. We care about giving a good quality service, and with the widest selection of products.

MGW: Finally, what golfer profile is Golfriend’s aimed at?

AV: Well, all player profiles have a place in our store. From people looking for value; those who don’t want to spend a lot of money; going through the golfer that seeks second hand equipment, or the beginner player, through to the players with a lot of purchasing power. Golfers of many nationalities arrive here.

We also have a great assortment for juniors. Remember that we organized the Porsche Golfriend’s Tour for kids golf and that, at the Valderrama Masters, we donated a cheque of 1,060 Euro (the collection of the entire year) to Sergio Garcia for his Foundation, and it is with this sort of activity that we want contribute to create interest and promote golf among kids.

Golfriend’s was already a spectacular store, but certainly now it is even more so, where any player will enjoy visiting and shopping there. Congratulations for the work and the service to the golfer!

More information at Golfriend’s:

Carretera Nacional 340, Km 167
Centro Comercial Mustang s/n
29688 Estepona (Málaga, Spain)

Tel. 952 882 523, e-mail info@golfriendshop.com and www.golfriendshop.com.