How to Open a Tennis Club Merchandise Store That Runs Itself

Traditional club apparel programs create friction at every step. You survey members for sizes, aggregate the numbers, submit to a printer, pay upfront, wait weeks, then distribute shirts at a specific time. Members who miss that window go without.

On-demand stores solve all of that. Members visit your shop link at any time, choose their products and sizes, and a shirt arrives at their door in about a week. New members who join in October can order the same polo as the charter members who joined in January.

Clubs that switch to on-demand stores also find that impulse purchases increase. When a member sees a hoodie in the catalog on a cold morning and can order it from their phone right there, they do. That same purchase never happened with a once-a-year bulk order form.

The strongest starting lineup for a tennis club merchandise store is a polo shirt, a performance tee, a hat, and a hoodie. Those four products cover the full range of court and clubhouse occasions.

Our polo shirts from Sport-Tek and Gildan are the top performers for tennis clubs. They satisfy collared shirt requirements, look sharp from the court to the dining room, and hold up through seasons of regular wear.

A moisture-wicking performance tee from Sport-Tek or Bear Grips handles casual practice days and open court sessions. A Richardson rope hat or embroidered Yupoong snapback gives members a branded option that works on and off the court. Add a hoodie for cooler weather and early-morning practices, and your store covers every occasion.

On the VIP plan at $59/month, you can stock up to 200 products. On the free plan, your 3 product limit is enough to start. Launch with polo, tee, and hat, then upgrade as demand grows.

Your Bear Grips shop comes with a clean URL you can share anywhere. Pin it to your club newsletter, post it in your Facebook group, text it to your member email list, or put it in the bio of your club Instagram account.

The most effective launch tactic is a simple email or text to current members: "We launched our apparel store. Polo shirts start at $44 shipped free. Here is the link." That is genuinely all it takes.

Clubs with a bulletin board or lobby display can also print a QR code that links directly to the shop. Members walking past the front desk can scan and order in under two minutes.

The free plan gives you 3 live products with no monthly cost. It is the right starting point for smaller clubs, HOA tennis programs, or any club testing demand before committing. Base prices are slightly higher on the free tier, which reduces but does not eliminate your profit margin.

The VIP plan at $59/month unlocks 200 products and drops base prices by $4 to $11 per item. For a club with 50 or more active members buying two to three items per year, the VIP plan pays for itself many times over in savings.

The Done-For-You VIP at $109/month hands the entire operation to our team. Send us your logo and we build the shop, write the product descriptions, and keep it updated seasonally. You focus on running your tennis program.

You set the retail price for every item in your store. Bear Grips charges you the base price on each sale and you keep the difference. The default starting point most clubs use is a $10 profit per item, which puts a VIP-tier polo at roughly $44 retail and a tee at roughly $30.

Some clubs pass the savings directly to members as a member benefit. Others keep a small margin and use the proceeds for court maintenance, junior programs, or social events. Both approaches work and you can change your pricing any time.

Check out our guide on how tennis clubs earn extra revenue from branded apparel for a detailed breakdown of the math.