Mequon could be the latest Milwaukee-area community to get an X-Golf indoor golf simulator.
Shawn DeMain and Luke Larson, local franchisees for Los Angeles-based X-Golf America Inc., plan to open their latest location in the Towne Shops of Mequon, located at 11043 N. Port Washington Road.
According to city documents, the golf simulator will occupy 6,000 square feet, and include a full-service bar along with the seven indoor golf simulators. It will employ five people.
The proposed location is scheduled for a public hearing Monday night as part of the city’s Planning Commission meeting.
DeMain and Larson recently opened their first X-Golf location in Brookfield. DeMain told the BizTimes the two had already planned for their second location for Mequon. However, it was the success they’ve already seen in Brookfield that made them feel confident moving forward.
Golf simulators at the Brookfield location, which opened in September, were on an “awesome trajectory” he said, in that they were occupied by patrons at a rate 40% higher than initially anticipated.
“Mequon was always in the cards for (location) number two, and the success for Brookfield certainly makes us confident in moving forward,” DeMain said.
Like many other retailers, the X-Golf in Brookfield is shuttered due to statewide shutdown mandates triggered in March by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even so, DeMain and Larson are advancing their plans in Mequon in order to be ready as soon as businesses are allowed to reopen, said DeMain.
The plans state the X-Golf location will conduct open golf, leagues, tournaments, charity events and corporate golf outings. It will also have kids’ camps and family deals. It will have a full bar and serve food such as snacks, pizza and pretzels.
Indoor golf simulators are a rising trend because of their appeal to both serious and novice golfers, their flexible scheduling and the opportunity they provide patrons to play regardless of the time of day or weather conditions, according to the project plans.
X-Golf began developing simulators in South Korea in 2005, and eventually spread to countries including Japan, Australia, Canada and the U.S. Since the company began franchising in the U.S. in 2016 it has opened 15 franchisees across the country. This includes locations in Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, Texas and Illinois.
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