Topgolf has confirmed a reduction of labor at its corporate office in Dallas. The number of layoffs was not disclosed.
“We are making structural shifts to our organization to optimize our focus around driving sales growth and to create a more agile organization. While this includes the incredibly difficult decision to reduce our corporate office labor costs, this shift allows us to further invest in areas of growth, implement initiatives at the venue more quickly, and achieve stronger results overall,” a spokesperson said in an email to Nation’s Restaurant News.
On the company’s fourth quarter call earlier this week, Topgolf chief executive officer Artie Starrs also confirmed the corporate reorganization.
“We are in the process of reorganizing with three clear intentions,” he said. “One, optimized leadership focus around driving same venue sales growth; two, simplify work for our venue team so they can focus on continued improvements in the in-bay experience; and three, further lower our cost base … We are streamlining our home office structure to better support our venues and run a more agile organization.”
The move comes ahead of Callaway’s anticipated spinoff of the Topgolf brand, initially announced in September. Callaway completed its acquisition of Topgolf in March 2021. In connection with the merger, Callaway granted 189 Topgolf employees with stock equity.
Topgolf’s momentum slowed in 2024, however, and the company hired advisors in the second quarter after an 8% same-store sales decline and a guidance adjustment downward. Executives cited “macroeconomic volatility” for the decline, which accelerated to -11% in July.
During its most recent quarterly report, however, Topgolf delivered record venue-level margins, as well as its second consecutive quarter of positive cash flow. That said, same-store sales remained pressured in the fourth quarter, at -8%. The company guided to negative mid-single-digit same-store sales for the full year.
Starrs said the company’s focus this year is to improve menu sales and value offerings while also adding new news to the player experience.
The company lists 96 domestic locations on its website, with another location “coming soon.” The company finished 2023 with 89 locations, according to Technomic data.
Topgolf is the latest company to announce corporate layoffs, following Starbucks, Dine Brands, Bloomin’ Brands, Panera, Noodles & Company, Duck Donuts, and KFC’s largest franchisee KBP Brands.
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]
