Honma seeking more outlets at The Open

Following a record sales month in June, Honma is keen to meet prospective new retailers at this year’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, Hoylake. Retailers and custom-fitters in the Midlands, North-East, South-West and East Anglia are being sought to help with the brand’s expansion. UK sales of the Japanese golf brand accounts for only a fraction of the company’s global sales, which it reports are heavily skewed towards the Far East where the brand is much better known. However, the brand has reported strong second quarter sales with a 35 percent UK sales increase in June 2014 year on year.

Since 2013’s introduction of the European-styled Tour World line, and with the addition of the more traditional S-03 range in 2014, the re-introduction of the Honma brand to the UK is underway says the company. Each club is hand-built to order in Japan, following a custom-fitting process. Sets of irons start at £1,275, although orders totalling well over £15,000 are frequently placed as the brand runs a 2 Star to 5 Star grading system for its clubs, offering multiple options for shafts, materials and personalisation. A fully-loaded set of Honma 5 Star clubs can cost over £50,000 with a 5 Star driver priced at £5,095.

Andy Hiseman, the brand’s UK spokesman said, “With less than a dozen official stockists in the UK, some golfers currently face quite a journey to try our clubs. This is particularly true for golfers in the Midlands, East Anglia, the South West and the North East, and we are particularly keen to meet potential retailers and custom-fitters from these areas, with a view to bringing the brand within a reasonable journey’s range for a fitting. We would of course also be delighted to talk to trade enquiries from all areas – particularly at Hoylake later this month.”

More details at: www.honma.co.uk