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Charlie at the shooting range with his father, Tyler.
charlie golf company
Golf equipment may not be your go-to gift or your first choice for a gift to bring to a baby shower, but if Mason City, Iowa entrepreneur Tyler Johnson has his way, you can find fun items like swaddles, stuffed animals, and toys. Size carry bags will be here soon. Bath time set.
Tyler Johnson, a 35-year-old mother of two under the age of 5, works as a general manager for a software company and launched a brand of toddler golf bags just a few months ago. Charlie Golf His company is named after Mr. Johnson’s eldest son. He often goes to the practice range with his buddies who played college golf at the University of Northern Iowa.
“He had gotten his own set of cut-down clubs from his father. My father liked to take the clubs with him on the first day he met his grandson, and the grips were either blue or pink,” Johnson said. said.
When playing at a local small 9-hole course, Charlie doesn’t play the holes, but occasionally fiddles with and hits the ball, and spends a lot of time playing in bunkers and divot mixes.
Charlie carried a tee and ball in his pocket that he had stolen from his father’s bag. These items often ended up on the floor of the family’s car on the way home. The annoyance of having to reach under the seat to retrieve a runaway item led to the creation of a golf brand.
Ms Johnson perused children’s bags online, but felt the existing products on the market, mainly scaled-down stand bags, were “overkill” for her three-year-old. When he couldn’t find the easy solution he was looking for, he decided to create one himself and dove down the rabbit hole. After reviewing specifications, materials, and design features, Johnson sourced a contract manufacturer and began prototyping, with Charlie serving as lead product tester. After several revisions, Johnson greenlit initial production of a lightweight, single-strap, pocket, club-divider carry bag made of waxed canvas with leather accents. Now it was time for a trial by fire, but he took a very conservative approach and ordered only 150 aircraft to be fired.
“At the time, I had no idea what was going to happen,” Johnson admitted.
Some friends showed some interest through informal focus groups with children their own age, and a waiting list began to develop. It started slowly, but after I posted to X detailing why I created a toddler golf bag, the floodgates opened.
“It was a Saturday at the end of October, and we were heading to my 8-year-old niece’s birthday party, and my wife was driving, so I tweeted and it caused quite a stir. . . . We ended up getting on a waiting list of 800 people that day,” Johnson said.
This viral tweet garnered just under 1 million impressions
45 days later, the first bags hit the market, and they were consumed faster than the running time of an episode of Netflix’s NFLX. full swing.
“There were 50 pieces of blue, 50 pieces of gray, and 50 pieces of pink.The blue sold out in 4 minutes, the gray sold out in 10 minutes, and I think the pink sold out in about 28 minutes, but I don’t remember exactly.” Mr. Johnson said.
Since it was already mid-December, he contacted his suppliers to get more stock, but they were only able to get another 100 bags by Christmas. Since then, maintaining inventory to keep up with demand has been a consistent problem.
Currently out of stock, but expect to have 400 bags on hand within a week. Those currently on the waiting list will be able to find out when the product will be released, but the bags will still be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.
Once an order is placed, the father and wife handle quality control, add personalized hang tags, prepare bags for shipping, and everything else is done by hand. Because we couldn’t afford the minimum order quantities for customized preprint boxes, early releases were stamped by hand, which can be a tedious process.
“This is the end [production run] My mom, wife, dad, and aunt came over and it became incredibly efficient. The first order for 150 bags took two days, but the last order for 155 bags ended up taking five hours,” Johnson said, adding that her brother-in-law and siblings, as well as other aunts, were always available to help. They are ready to serve you if you need them.
Charlie Golf Co. has already partnered with Nor’easter Sticks for its first brand collaboration, packaging the Amesbury, Mass.-based brand’s hickory wood alignment sticks as an add-on to its bags. Launching his own equipment is Charlie’s next challenge, with a line of toddler golf clubs expected to be available by late spring.
While golf bags remain the company’s core business, the company plans to soon offer drivers, 7-irons, pitching wedges, and putters at very economical and aggressive price points. The bag itself retails for $88.
“We didn’t necessarily have money when I was a kid, and I don’t want to put a price tag on people. This is all about getting kids interested in the game. That’s what I really wanted to do. That’s what I want.”
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