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Dick’s
Dec 2, 2018 20:39:16 GMT -5
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Post by firstwd on Dec 2, 2018 20:39:16 GMT -5
Personally, I feel this was a long planned business movement. Their hunting and gun sales had been poor earners for quite some time and their in-store inventory/floor space has been scaled back over the years.
The Parkland shooting caused enough of a social outcry for them to "take a stand" and hopefully acquire new and renewed interest from the non hunting segment of society.
The removal of those departments allows space for higher earners and the timing is such that both segments of society gets to feel like they have won.
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Dick’s
Dec 3, 2018 6:56:02 GMT -5
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Post by dbd870 on Dec 3, 2018 6:56:02 GMT -5
That’s possible.
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Dick’s
Dec 3, 2018 9:52:40 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2018 9:52:40 GMT -5
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Dick’s
Dec 3, 2018 9:58:24 GMT -5
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Post by greghopper on Dec 3, 2018 9:58:24 GMT -5
lol..... you may want to check their stock market chart.
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Dick’s
Dec 3, 2018 10:01:49 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2018 10:01:49 GMT -5
lol..... you may want to check their stock market chart. I agree not doing very well. Dick’s says it can trace the downturn not just to an overall retail downturn, but also directly to its decision to take action on “gun control,” banning the sales of “assault-style” rifles at its Field & Stream affiliated retailer and discontinuing any gun sales to people under the age of 21.
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Dick’s
Dec 11, 2018 19:21:03 GMT -5
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Post by whitetaildave24 on Dec 11, 2018 19:21:03 GMT -5
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Post by duff on Dec 13, 2018 5:14:46 GMT -5
When Obama was in office and gun/ammo sales were bloated everyone wanted to sell guns. 22 shells were being sold like drugs in zip lock bags...
I was going to buy an AR from rural king last year for 400ish. They were selling for 2 to 3x higher.
Fishing tackle for me comes mainly through the mail.
I understand why stores are removing the poor performers from shelves. They have to make $. Based on the hoarding that happened there are folks that will not need to buy guns or ammo for decades!
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Post by dusty20 on Dec 13, 2018 9:43:41 GMT -5
When Obama was in office and gun/ammo sales were bloated everyone wanted to sell guns. 22 shells were being sold like drugs in zip lock bags... I was going to buy an AR from rural king last year for 400ish. They were selling for 2 to 3x higher. Fishing tackle for me comes mainly through the mail. I understand why stores are removing the poor performers from shelves. They have to make $. Based on the hoarding that happened there are folks that will not need to buy guns or ammo for decades! I was looking up the PR to show to a co-worker and saw them refer to Obama as one of the top conservationists due to everyone buying guns and the money that was collected as part of that.
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Post by 36fan on Dec 13, 2018 10:18:54 GMT -5
I miss Galyan's.
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Post by duff on Dec 13, 2018 10:55:57 GMT -5
When Obama was in office and gun/ammo sales were bloated everyone wanted to sell guns. 22 shells were being sold like drugs in zip lock bags... I was going to buy an AR from rural king last year for 400ish. They were selling for 2 to 3x higher. Fishing tackle for me comes mainly through the mail. I understand why stores are removing the poor performers from shelves. They have to make $. Based on the hoarding that happened there are folks that will not need to buy guns or ammo for decades! I was looking up the PR to show to a co-worker and saw them refer to Obama as one of the top conservationists due to everyone buying guns and the money that was collected as part of that. Yep and the dnc is the gun and ammo share holders best friend.
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Post by jjas on Dec 14, 2018 9:45:20 GMT -5
Here's a piece on Dick's that Jim Shepherd from the Outdoor Wire wrote and posted today. theoutdoorwire.com/ FEATURE Is Dick's Getting Ready to Axe Field & Stream Stores? Newton’s Third Law of motion says “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”.
As I read reports from retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods’ recent participation in Goldman Sachs Retailing Conference, part if me wonders if Dick’s Chairman Ed Stack had fully considered that concept.
To have taken the kind of “virtue signaling” actions he’d taken regarding the company’s policies on gun sales, he would have needed to have been operating in a vacuum to have expected that not to have kicked off a firestorm.
A vacuum is a requirement for Newton’s laws to work as advertised.
Despite Stack’s continued insistence that Dick’s had considered the certainty of a pushback from outraged customers, he told Goldman attendees that their 3.9 percent drop in same-store sales this year was enough to put the company’s 25 Field & Stream stores across 18 states in jeopardy.
Yep, seems that while Stack doesn’t regret the decision, he’s realized fact that manufacturers and customers aren’t getting over their anger over his having not only changed the store’s policies on gun sales, but having hired gun-control lobbyists to push for stricter gun laws.
Outraged former customers have, indeed, taken their business elsewhere- including places where they can still buy guns Mossberg, Springfield Armory, Inland Manufacturing and others. They’re among several companies that severed relationships with both Dicks and Field & Stream last May, after Dick’s was expelled from the National Shooting Sports Foundation for “conduct detrimental to the best interests of the Foundation.”
According to reports from the Goldman conference, Dick’s will “assess the situation through the holiday season”. At that point, Stack says, “we will make a decision about what we’re going to do with Field & Stream.”
From a business standpoint, what Stack did should have been career suicide. But Stack’s in a unique position- he owns more than half of Dick’s voting stock. Essentially, he can make virtually any move he pleases. Otherwise, this single action would have landed most CEOs in the next day’s dumpster.
But anyone who underestimates Mr. Stack’s business acumen might be looking in the wrong direction. What if he’s seen the upside of the downside and is using guns as the scapegoat for dumping 25 Field & Stream stores he’s already admitted have dragged down overall performance?
In a 2017 earnings call, Stack seemed to be criticizing his decision to open the F&S stores, when he told analysts that “what’s been weighing on this industry has been the hunt business.”
Now, with overall sales lagging, he may once again be using the impact of “virtue signaling” as a way to use a turndown to his long-term advantage.
When he made the announcement to take AR-style rifles out of the stores, I wrote that his ideological decision might actually made good sense for a brick-and-mortar retailer whose survival depended on appealing to as many potential customers as possible.
Guns, from a P&L standpoint, are low-margin products, carrying the obligation of burdensome required paperwork and heavy security requirements. Retailers generally use them to attract shooters and hunters in hopes they’ll lead to more lucrative purchases, including shooting accessories. Guns were, in fact, one of the reasons cited by Mr. Stack for Dick’s success during the “boom” of the Obama years.
In a slower demand time, taking the space dedicated to guns and ammunition - while keeping some of the more broadly-popular accessories, would reduce record-keeping, lower potential liability - and free up space for higher margin products.
There’s very little liability attached to leotards and athletic shoes, and compared to firearms, profit margins are many times higher. Plus, these products don’t alienate “social justice warriors” who quickly take their perceived wrongs onto social media.
Guns, it seems, trigger those responses to near-hysterical levels.
What if you could “virtue signal” to those customers, endure some short-term pain, and turn them into a long-term customers?
After all, there are many more potential customers for yoga pants than rifles, pistols, or shotguns. And those same customers who aren’t the least bit reluctant about making their feelings known to anyone who will listen.
There’s little doubt- by Edward Stack’s own comments- that Dick’s is feeling the impact of their decisions regarding guns. But once you begin peeling away the layers of this business onion, it’s easy to see there may be a long-term game associated with what many have presumed to be a knee-jerk reaction.
Should the decline in sales continue, Stack, who apparently has some political aspirations- could make a compelling case that he’s a man who follows his conscience, despite the personal and processional costs. And he could also get rid of more than two-dozen locations that haven’t met expectations - along with their nettlesome customers.
He’s not talking- nor is anyone at Dick’s or Field and Stream, but we’re watching- and we’ll keep you posted.
—Jim Shepherd
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Dick’s
Dec 14, 2018 11:41:36 GMT -5
Post by jimstc on Dec 14, 2018 11:41:36 GMT -5
Excellent article with insight. Now we know why Stack wasn't fired. He controls the company through his stock ownership. Makes the Board of Directors look like idiots. Reminds me of Under Armour and Kevin Plank. That sort of control by the CEO didn't work out so well at UA
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Dick’s
Dec 14, 2018 13:15:47 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2018 13:15:47 GMT -5
This one makes no sense. Why destroy Disk's if Field & Stream Stores are declining. Just let them decline and close the stores. No need to manufacture. Fake news to smooth relations with customers. Don't fool me.
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