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PGA Championship Pop-Up Shop Opens This Weekend

The Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) will be hosting its 99th PGA Championship next week at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, NC. In anticipation of the event, which officially starts Monday August 7, the PGA has set up The Championship Shops, a pop-up shop of official PGA merchandise, at the course.

The grand opening of the 43,000-square-foot tent is this Saturday the 5th, with a two-day free sneak preview, after which it will be open only for visitors with a ticket to the tournament. It will close August 13, the last day of the championship.

“A lot of people just want to take home a memory from the event,” Michael Quirk, senior director for merchandising and licensing at the PGA, told the Charlotte Observer. “I guarantee you’re going to find something in here.”

Visitors will be greeted by vehicles from sponsor Mercedes-Benz, along with life-size digital versions of golfers Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia on the walls, asking passersby for selfies. The shop will be staffed by about 700 volunteers for the duration of the tournament, Quirk told the Observer, selling everything from hats, shirts, and polos, to flags, lapel pins and golf towels. The latter are expected to be one of the shop’s biggest sellers, with an anticipated 25,000 purchased.

Quirk expects apparel that’s co-branded with logos from the Championship and nearby schools, such as Clemson and North Carolina, to be fast movers. Fans can also purchase the same shirts that top players will be wearing each day of the event.

To keep long lines moving, the shop will have 42 registers and will also offer free merch storage services, so fans can return to spectator areas hands-free after making their purchases.

“We want to get them back to the golf as quickly as possible,” Quirk said. “That’s why they’re here.”

Photo credit: Diedra Laird, Charlotte Observer

 

 

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