Dick’s Sporting Goods In A Bind?

[okie john]

Seems like things aren’t going well in the wake of their decision to drop black rifles.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailywire.com/news/38935/dicks-sporting-goods-warns-investors-our-decision-emily-zanotti%3famp.

Based on their store layout and inventory, I’m guessing that the hook-and-bullet vertical by itself is pretty minor for Dick’s and most of their margin comes from moderately affluent parents outfitting multiple kids for soccer, baseball, and other team sports. I think they underestimated how many of those folks might not appreciate an anti-2A course of action.


Inventory levels, meanwhile, rose 1 percent in the third quarter after falling 5 percent in the first half of 2018 with inventory days estimated to return back to 2015-2017 levels.

I’m reading this to say that while some shoppers supported dropping black rifles for a few months, more of them have taken their trade elsewhere and have not come back.

In other words, there are more pro-2A shoppers than commonly imagined, pollsters and other media wizards can’t get a handle on us, we remember those who infringe on our civil rights, and we vote with our wallets.


Okie John

[spinmove_]

Good. There are plenty of other sporting goods stores that aren’t Dick’s that has basically the same wares. I literally have 0 reason to ever step foot in their stores ever again.


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[Guinnessman]

Why pay Dick’s prices, when Zappos gives great service and ships to my house. There is no good reason to shop at Dick’s.

[Guerrero]

So... Dick's sales are flaccid?

[RJ]

So... Dick's sales are flaccid?

I hear they’ve been soft for quite a while.


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[NH Shooter]

In the same vein, out son in-law works for Converse, who is owned by Nike. He was asking if I might be interested in a pair of fancy Nike sneakers for Christmas. I declined and requested a gift certificate to the Sig Academy instead. :-)

And yes, Dick's is on my never-never list too.

[RevolverRob]

Dick's is getting hit pretty hard by all sides.

Soft goods are marked up about 3-400% in sporting goods, so most of your profit comes from volume sales of those. Shoes and clothes are cheaper elsewhere (Amazon, Zappos, etc.) it just doesn't make much sense to shop there.

Like Sports Authority, I expect Dick's to be dead in 5 years or less.

[okie john]

I live near REI headquarters and a bunch of my former colleagues are REI alums. Rumors have it that they're also suffering.


Okie John

[Guinnessman]

Dick's is getting hit pretty hard by all sides.

Soft goods are marked up about 3-400% in sporting goods, so most of your profit comes from volume sales of those. Shoes and clothes are cheaper elsewhere (Amazon, Zappos, etc.) it just doesn't make much sense to shop there.

Like Sports Authority, I expect Dick's to be dead in 5 years or less.

You just made a post with “Dick’s,” “Soft,” and “Hard,” yet the mods here say nothing.:p

[RevolverRob]

I live near REI headquarters and a bunch of my former colleagues are REI alums. Rumors have it that they're also suffering.


Okie John

Not surprising, REI is damned expensive too. I do shop there about once maybe twice a year, usually for a specific piece of gear/clothing. I use the REI Outlet a lot more.

[okie john]

Dick's is getting hit pretty hard by all sides.

Soft goods are marked up about 3-400% in sporting goods, so most of your profit comes from volume sales of those. Shoes and clothes are cheaper elsewhere (Amazon, Zappos, etc.) it just doesn't make much sense to shop there.

Like Sports Authority, I expect Dick's to be dead in 5 years or less.

Yes and no.

Brick and mortar stores are more convenient than online if you have kids. That’s because kids have to try things on, especially shoes, to make sure that they fit. You pull up in the minivan, march them in, get them what they need, then march them out so you can get home in time to feed them dinner and fold their laundry. It’s slightly more expensive, but ultimately faster and more reliable because you fix the problem once and don’t have to worry about returns.

The real bottom line is that you can't afford to piss off customers. If Dick's had said, "We don’t make money on hook-and-bullet gear so we're dropping it," then they could have gotten out of the gun business without offending people.

But they went for a virtue-signaling PR win and now the damage is done.


Okie John

[okie john]

Not surprising, REI is damned expensive too. I do shop there about once maybe twice a year, usually for a specific piece of gear/clothing. I use the REI Outlet a lot more.

I used to, but those days are gone. It's a shame, since their flagship store was within walking distance of my house.


Okie John

[Bigghoss]

I went into a Dick's once. It's a cooler looking Big 5, which is also a shitty sporting goods store. The reason I don't shop there is because they suck. The fact they're anti gun is just icing on the shit cake they baked for themselves.

[Edster]

A league my kid played in when he was little did their equipment fitting at the local Dick's. As someone said, if you aren't sure what brand and size your kid will like, brick-and-mortar is worth it.

I pretty quickly found nearby alternatives with better selection and lower prices. When he developed a good enough handle on what he needed, online became the better choice.

I still stopped in to Dick's for occasional impulse buy. Once they decided the cause of the country's problems was law-abiding gunowners, that ended.

The only thing that disappoints me here is, if they fail, I am sure a lot of people will find some reason besides their posturing.

[BehindBlueI's]

I suspect that the vast majority of Dick's income is from two main categories. Clothing and golf stuff. For several years they have struck me as a clothing store with a sports marketing campaign attempting to drive traffic. Jeans aren't sporting goods, but they have Carhartts and their house brand. There's probably more overlap with women's clothing as the "sporty" look is popular outside of sports as well. Yoga pants aren't confined to yoga studios, etc.

Retail is tough. It's tougher when your marketing is scattered (come if you are outdoorsy but don't like guns?), your prices aren't particularly competitive, and your often tied to traditional malls with the increased overhead that goes with that. Their 2nd amendment bleating certainly hasn't helped them, but I suspect it's one of a host of issues. I wouldn't be an investor.

[Clusterfrack]

I don’t know if the politicization of retailers is a marketing decision, but I now avoid Dicks, REI, and Nike.

[Ichiban]

I don’t know if the politicization of retailers is a marketing decision, but I now avoid Dicks, REI, and Nike.

Don't forget Levis.
Although I suspect they aren't all that popular with this crowd anyway. :D
https://2ndvote.com/levis-just-donated-1-million-gun-control-heres-buy-clothes-instead/

[Clusterfrack]

Don't forget Levis.
Although I suspect they aren't all that popular with this crowd anyway. :D
https://2ndvote.com/levis-just-donated-1-million-gun-control-heres-buy-clothes-instead/

People wear Levi’s?

[RevolverRob]

I wouldn't be an investor.

For a more pragmatic reason than the risks you describe for me. I wouldn't invest in a company, whose job it is to make money, who actively destroys inventory and eliminates revenue streams. That strikes me as an additional layer of risk that is unnecessary.

And if Dick's was playing the game expecting vehement anti-gunners to invest with them more, that was a mistake. I've not yet met a vehement anti-gunner who wasn't simultaneously anti-capitalist and felt that Wall Street and investing was essentially the work of the devil (or Halliburton, or whatever). No, those folks send money to TD Waterhouse and have it invested for them and pay the fees, because it keeps them from knowing what they are invested in for the most part. And most mutual fund managers aren't buying up Dick's stock, that's for damn sure.

Seriously, every one of my friends and colleagues who is established enough to have a stock portfolio and is anti-gun just sends the money out and says, "Invest in green energy and whatever else." And then drive their Priuses to work and pretend they are doing good when they tweet about justice.

[txdpd]

I'm not sure I would put any stock in what the Daily Wire reports. I think there's a bit of jumping to conclusions going on there.


Dick's Sporting Goods is warning investors that its decision to remove certain "assault-style" weapons from its Field & Stream stores cost it dearly and may limit its future gains.

What might have happened at one location is then used to imply the demise of the of the entire chain.

Dick's had a less than stellar quarter, but they still had a quarter that turned a profit. Dick's isn't going away anytime soon. They'll die with the rest of sector if they don't find a way to get Generation Z away from screens and playing outdoors.

[Coyotesfan97]

People wear Levi’s?

I’ve been wearing Levi’s for fifty years since I was a kid. I’ll be buying Wranglers or Lee’s the next time I buy blue jeans.

[willie]

They sucked before they got stupid. I heard they were selling whizinators to college girls and boy scouts but don't quote me on it.

[Nightvisionary]

As much as I would like to Im just not buying the narrative. Dick's stock certainly is not suffering, at least over the last year. Same with the whole Nike/Kapernick deal. If we had that much power the NFL would be defunct and Repubs would control the house.

[mmc45414]

Retail is tough. It's tougher when your marketing is scattered (come if you are outdoorsy but don't like guns?), your prices aren't particularly competitive, and your often tied to traditional malls with the increased overhead that goes with that.And they are competing with themselves with the Field & Stream stores. I figure Dicks will continue to sell stick and ball stuff and probably focus more there. I more wonder about the validity of their F&S stores going head to head with Bass Pro/Cabela's. I live in the Dayton, OH area, with a population of only about 800k (with all the suburbs), and there are three Dick's locations plus a F&S competing with a Cabela's and probably at least six well stocked guns shops, including a Point Blank. I have been buying and lusting for this stuff all my life and even I am starting to wonder who the hell is gonna buy all of that stuff...

[spinmove_]

People wear Levi’s?

I happen to be a fan of their 541 cut. Sadly they’re anti-2A bastards and I’m waiting for those last couple pair to wear out so they can be replaced by something else.


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[Arbninftry]

Dicks can flop around. I hope they continue to dribble, and their margins continue to be limp!

[CCT125US]

I live in the Dayton, OH area, with a population of only about 800k (with all the suburbs), and there are three Dick's locations plus a F&S competing with a Cabela's and probably at least six well stocked guns shops, including a Point Blank.

I work in Dayton about 4 days a week, and thought I had found most of the shops. Guess not. I get to Vandalia Tactical, and Olde English once in awhile.

[HCM]

They sucked before they got stupid. I heard they were selling whizinators to college girls and boy scouts but don't quote me on it.

Dicks absolutely was the worst chain sporting goods store long before their foray in to the politics of gun control. High prices and poor selection.

[mmc45414]

I work in Dayton about 4 days a week, and thought I had found most of the shops. Guess not. I get to Vandalia Tactical, and Olde English once in awhile.
Partial List:
Vandalia Tactical https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vandalia-Tactical/134346193282368
Olde English https://www.oeoutfitters.com/
Vandalia Range & Armory https://vra-ohio.com/
Miami Valley Shooting Grounds https://www.miamivalleyshootinggrounds.com/
Point Blank https://shootpointblank.com/dayton-ohio/
Miami Armory https://themiamiarmory.com/
3G Tactical http://www.3gtactical.com/
Fox Shooting Loft http://www.foxshootingloft.com/

Plus Dick's, and Field & Stream, and Cabela's and Gander recently closed.

[awp_101]

And an ammo supplier is suing them because Dick's placed a large order in 2016 and never paid or had it distributed: Using your vendor as a warehouse? (https://laststandonzombieisland.com/2018/10/29/using-your-vendor-as-a-warehouse)

33271

[lwt16]

Our local store's parking lot is mostly empty every time I drive past it. Like others have mentioned, I never found anything in there that was priced competitively to what I could find at other local stores. Frankly, I never saw the appeal of the store to anyone but our town is saturated with stores similar to Dick's.

If this decision, as well as their high prices, leads to their demise as a corporation, I'll simply smile when I drive by the store and await to see what or who buys the building. The local Academy, Cabelas, and on line places have seen a bunch of my money in 2018.