Dick's is mulling getting out of hunting gear business

[SgtHal75]

I will say that I miss the 325 rounds of federal 22 ammo for 4.99 a box. That was the only thing I ever got there. Sometimes they would mess up other ammo prices too. Every time I went there 8 out of the 10 people shopping were in the outdoor and hunting section. These people are really dumb. Like I said tear it down and turn it into a Bass Pro.

 

[CdP]

As others have said it’s moronic to say that a business that sells multiple product lines can completely piss off the users of one and not have it impact the rest. I used to go to Dicks for all my kids sports stuff and sometimes sneakers, cold weather gear, etc. Part of that was because I could run up and try to grab some shotgun shells on sale while I was there....or I went specifically for the shells (or other sale ammo) and brought the kids because they needed soccer stuff or whatever. I haven’t set foot in any of their stores since they started this stupid shit. Coupons go in the trash and club member card was cancelled.

How many people like me does it take before you have real problems?? Especially in the face of Amazon sending whatever I need for your other product lines right to my door within 2 days for shorter money? Asshats.

Exactly!! It's their whole value proposition: come in for XX, and get attracted by or remember your need for YY, and on the way, why not pick up a ZZ placed easily right in front of you.

 

[CdP]

Imagine that , you piss off an entire groups of customers who it turns out buy more than just guns and you can't figure out why your tanking.
Give your parents back the money they wasted on collage.

It's odd... I rarely see any beanie-wearing, goatee-pulling, black-rimmed-glassed hipsters out in the woods. Nor any pink pussy hats near my tree stand. Huh... who would've thought that SJWs aren't big active buyers of outdoor gear.

 

[enbloc]

Maybe they can fall back on streamer sales to fill the gap?...

 

[Pete85]

So have they decided to pull out?

 

[commodon]

From an article five days ago, https://freebeacon.com/issues/dicks-sporting-goods-says-gun-control-stance-hurt-business-may-close-field-stream/amp/

Dick’s Sporting Goods Says Gun-Control Stance Hurt Business, May Close Field & Stream

Dick's Sporting Goods told investors during the Goldman Sachs Retailing Conference that its gun-control stance hurt sales of its hunting business, outdoors business, and that it may close its outdoor-focused Field & Stream stores.

Edward Stack, chairman and CEO of Dick's, said during the event that the sporting goods chain's recent 3.9 percent drop in same-store sales was the result of a mix of factors beyond their control as well as some he called "self-imposed." Specifically, he said, "the decisions we made on firearms" negatively affected their bottom line but the drop in sales was something they expected. They did not, however, regret their decision to change a number of their gun-sales policies and back new gun-control legislation.

"Well I think it's definitely a factor, and it's nothing that we didn't anticipate," Stack said during the call. "As we put out kind of our guidance for the year and our earnings guidance for the year, we knew this would happen when—we've made some decisions on firearms in the past and we've had a pretty good idea of what these consequences were going to be. We felt that was absolutely the right thing to do. We would do the same thing again if we had a mulligan, so to speak, to do it again."

Dick's first modified its gun-sales policy in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting when it said it would no longer sell AR-15s and certain other semiautomatic rifles. The retailer quickly circumvented that pledge when it opened its outdoor-focused Field & Stream chain. But in the wake of the Parkland shooting earlier this year, the chain once again pledged to stop selling AR-15s and certain other semiautomatic rifles.

In addition, Dick's decided to hire their own gun-control lobbyists in order to push for stricter gun laws nationwide. That action led the National Shooting Sports Foundation—the firearms industry's trade group—to expel the retailer.

The retailer also said in February it would no longer sell firearms to legal adults under the age of 21. On Tuesday, the company settled an age discrimination suit stemming from that decision, according to a report from Oregon Public Broadcasting.

The company insisted during the earnings call that while their embrace of gun-control policies was hurting store foot traffic as well as their hunting and outdoors business, they've found ways to offset the losses.

"Has it had an impact on the foot traffic and people who were upset with us on this? Yes," Stack said. "Has it impacted our profitability? No. We found ways to offset that. We're taking 10 stores this fall and taking firearms out of all of those 10 stores and reconceptualizing the footprint, the product mix, and we'll find out—we'll have a sense of what happens if we took that out. Now these are stores that the hunt penetration is relatively low, so it's not a perfect test, but … we're going to test this in 10 stores and see what happens."

Still, Dick's admitted both firearms customers and the firearms industry have rebutted the retailer because of their gun-control advocacy.

"Well, we've made that decision at the end of February, what we're going to do with firearms," Stack said. "It's still a little early to tell. So, we're taking a look at this. It will depend on a number of things that we're going to be assessing through the balance of this year. So, we've had some vendors who've decided based on our decision to not sell the assault-style rifle that was used in the Parkland shooting that they wouldn't sell us any longer. So, as you know, there's been some people who said we're not going to sell you any firearms anymore. We're not going to sell you our product. We've had some other people who've indicated that they wouldn't shop with us any longer. So, we've got to take a look, and we'll assess this through this holiday season, if the brands are going to continue to or not. Some brands are not going to continue to sell [to] us. If consumers [are] upset with us, we will make a decision of what we're going to do with Field & Stream."

The company said it may soon close down their entire Field & Stream chain of 35 stores across 18 states.

"My sense is that we can either take a look at closing that store, that concept or reconceptualizing it into a more of an outdoor type concept, and we're taking a look at all of these things and by the end of—the peak of the hunting season is coming up in—and basically, the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarter and as we move into the end of the fourth quarter, we'll make a decision as to what we're going to do," Stack said.

 

[enbloc]

They did not, however, regret their decision to change a number of their gun-sales policies and back new gun-control legislation.

This line says it all. Buh Bye Dick's...

Ok, this line too, but that's it. I'm firm.

We would do the same thing again if we had a mulligan, so to speak, to do it again.

 

[EJFudd]

This line says it all. Buh Bye Dick's...

Ok, this line too, but that's it. I'm firm.

They can NEVER admit that they made a big mistake. Never. Hell will freeze over solid before they even start to think about it.

 

[enbloc]

They should have went the other way. Profusely apologized and offered a year-long 25% discount on all shooting/hunting related products,
made a substantial donation to the NRA and the NSSF, increased and expanded their inventory and finally; donated .22 rifles to local schools to help found new Shooting Sports Teams.

 

[Roy Rogers]

 

[PaulR]

Closing 35 Field and Stream stores.

Well done everyone.

 

[Jambrose]

This line says it all. Buh Bye Dick's...

Ok, this line too, but that's it. I'm firm.

Was going to say the same thing enbloc, literally the definition of insanity... "sir from a business standpoint if you could do it all over again and save you from losing millions of dollars, would you do so?" ... "Nope!"

Good riddance, I'll continue to support my local shops!

 

[Dennis in MA]

Best in life: Laughing at those folks on here and elsewhere last Spring that said this won't impact Dicks and that they will succeed despite of this move.

 

[Coyote33]

It's odd... I rarely see any beanie-wearing, goatee-pulling, black-rimmed-glassed hipsters out in the woods. Nor any pink pussy hats near my tree stand. Huh... who would've thought that SJWs aren't big active buyers of outdoor gear.

Saw a woman with what I think was one of those hats at Kittery Trading Post last weekend. She was looking at compound bows. Was "not sure if serious" because she was going along, making loudish comment like "this one is pretty". Maybe she was trolling the store and shoppers. I was too busy to watch for long.

View attachment 258605

Lots of Mass. representation there.

 

[Roadglide]

Good!! Get lost scum bags.

 

[Drix]

My girlfriend knows for Christmas:

I'd be happier getting nothing with a note that said "I tried to get you xxx or yyyy, but could only find it at dicks" than to actually get an item from Dicks. She knows I'm not happy with Bass Pro either, but not to the level of Dicks.

 

[Pete85]

They can NEVER admit that they made a big mistake. Never. Hell will freeze over solid before they even start to think about it.

It would probably be worse for them if they admitted their mistake. They have little chance of getting the 2A crowd back after what they did. If they admit that it was a huge mistake to take an anti-2A stance, they're going to lose the anti-2A/SJW crowd, at least for a while, further hurting sales.

 

[Dennis in MA]

Meh. They could apologize and then just lose $ for 2 years. 2 years later, people would be back.

Who boycotted Field & Stream a decade ago and still does??? People forget. Make amends. Move on.

 

[AHM]

Dicks Newswire​

Howie Carr, tearing into PSH stories
about the impact of Our Long National Nightmare
(i.e., the Federal shutdown)
on commerce and society:

... We have other silly stories; how about this one:

Government Shutdown Affecting Beer, Wine, and Liquor Sales...
​

You didn't know this, didja?
You didn't...
...No, the liquor store is still open.
(The "package store", as we say in New England).

Schoolhouse Brewing...​

Everyone who's heard of Schoolhouse Brewing, raise your hand.
Don't everybody hold up their hand at once.

It's in Marietta, Georgia...

... "We're looking to get our licensing,
and that is stalled".​

Oh; so in other words,
they're not even open -
they're just opening now.

What I heard was,
the guy who approves the new beer labels -
I guess he works for the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration -
he has been furloughed.

So you know,
if "Old Foggy Horn Brewery",
you know, the "craft brewery"
that opened up in the old Dick's Sporting Goods Store in the mall -
if they were looking to put out a new pumpkin fest brew for the spring
(or bock, or whatever the seasonal brew is),
they can't get it approved by the FDA,
so you'll just have to buy the "brew"
that's available 365 days a year...​

BigSteve207:

...or we could just repeal that law or regulation.​