Golfsmith’s Course of Action: Focus on Multichannel Commerce

Applying appropriate levels of human capital: Says Thompson, “Growing a company requires that you have great talent in place. But that’s risky, too. You can’t over-extend those terrific individuals, because you’ll burn them out.”

In-the-mail costs: Hermansen is particularly critical of the U.S. Postal Service. “They don’t seem to adequately understand how much its rate increases hurt business in this country,” he says, his voice elevating a bit in frustration. “When they raise rates, we mailers have no recourse but to pull back our mailings, which doesn’t help us or USPS.”