Bad Birdie Sets Multipronged Expansion Plan in Motion
Bad Birdie has hatched a plan to expand its reach beyond just irreverent polos for golfers.
The multipronged growth plan includes entering the Canadian market, opening retail stores, expanding into womenswear and launching an off-course collection.
More from WWD
To help execute these plans, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based brand has brought apparel industry veteran Michael Kadous on board as chief operating officer. His prior experience included seven years at Adidas and four with Gap and Old Navy.
“I’m a solo founder and really bootstrapped this company,” said Jason Richardson, chief executive officer. “I knew I had to hire something with apparel experience in order to scale.”
Richardson said he started Bad Birdie in 2017 in his L.A. apartment “as a side hustle.” Although he loved to play golf, and had even attended junior caddie school as a young man, he didn’t like how serious and stodgy the game could be. “It was very proper and very exclusive,” he said.
His college degree was in marketing and he spent a couple of years as a line producer in the film industry, but he never lost his love of golf.
In his spare time, he created polos with loud and colorful graphics such as palm trees, ferns, fish and other bold patterns. He admitted that he had no fashion experience, but his first order for 100 shirts for him and his friends soon found other fans, and it didn’t take long for him to leave the film industry behind and focus full time on Bad Birdie.
The company has expanded into pants, shorts, quarter-zips, sweats, T-shirts, hats and outerwear for men. Last month it introduced an off-course apparel capsule of fleece jackets, hoodies, sweatpants, shorts and hats.
In May, Bad Birdie took the plunge into womenswear as well. The launch collection, which offered the same out-of-the-box take on the golf market, enjoyed a “great reception,” Richardson said, bolstering his confidence to explore other avenues for growth.
“My vision for the company is to create disruptive apparel to reach the next generation of golfers,” Richardson said.
First up, Bad Birdie entered the Canadian market last month, selling both online as well as in Golf Town, a key retailer for the sport in that country.
Closer to home, Richardson said Bad Birdie is partnering with Catapult, a golf industry growth platform, to move into the lucrative golf course and resort pro shop market across the U.S. “Seventy to 80 percent of golf apparel is sold at pro shops,” Richardson said, so gaining a foothold there is paramount to future growth for the brand. Catapult has a fleet of sales reps that service these accounts and they will now be offering Bad Birdie to the courses.
Until now, the brand has been sold primarily at big-box retailers such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, Nordstrom and Golf Galaxy.
The company is also shining a spotlight on its own retail. It operates stores in its hometown of Scottsdale in addition to Newport Beach, Calif., and Houston, which opened in June, and he remains “bullish” on brick-and-mortar. “Bad Birdie is planning more store openings in the future,” he said. “We don’t have specifics at this time but are looking to bring the Bad Birdie retail experience to new markets.
The company recently launched a loyalty program where loyal shoppers are given bonuses and other perks, and Richardson said next year he will be “investing heavily in collaborations with like-minded brands and professional athletes.”
Going forward, Richardson said he will be focusing on three main pillars for growth. First is to expand the existing assortment, both for traditional golfwear and off-course; second is to expand distribution as a way to “reach the golfer wherever they are,” whether that’s Nordstrom, Dick’s, the PGA Superstore or a local pro shop. Finally, he said Bad Birdie will continue to execute on its mission to create a community not tied to the traditional ethos of golf.
“As the game has become more popular, it’s become more inclusive and we want to double down on that,” he said.
Best of WWD
