Dick’s Continues Losing Streak with Gun Control, Pulls Shotguns from Stores

Opinion

Goodbye, Dick's. And good riddance.
Dick’s Continues Losing Streak with Gun Control, Pulls Shotguns from Stores

Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- Dick’s Sporting Goods is committed to removing firearms from its stores. This reflects an ideological commitment by the chain’s CEO, Edward Stack. The chain will be removing firearms from 125 of 720 stores.  From retailtouchpoints.com:

DICK’S Sporting Goods is doubling down on its decision to tighten gun sales policies. The retailer will no longer sell firearms and select hunting gear at 125 of its 720+ namesake stores after testing the concept in 10 locations last year.

Nearly one year ago, DICK’S CEO Edward Stack admitted that the retailer’s assault rifle ban was “not going to be positive from a traffic standpoint and a sales standpoint.” The retailer stopped sales of the assault-style rifles at all 35 Field & Stream stores and ceased selling guns and ammunition of any kind to buyers under 21 after the Feb. 14, 2018 Parkland, Fla. high school shooting in which 17 people were killed.

Firearms sales are lower this year, in general, than they were in 2018. The slump is noticeable compared to the Obama years, but sales remain high compared to historical norms. The election of Donald Trump has removed much of the fear factor that powered sales in the record-breaking election year of 2016. Even considering the industry-wide slump, Dick’s decision to blame guns for societal ills has cost it considerable business.  From vox.com:

Many major gun companies have also since refused to do business with Dick’s. In one statement, O.F. Mossberg & Sons Inc., the parent company of Mossberg guns, urged shoppers to “visit one of the thousands of pro-Second Amendment firearm retailers to make their purchases.”

Dick’s has suffered financially; one shareholder last year even accused the company of “willfully giving up money.” As of November 2018, its sales were down almost 4 percent, and many gun rights advocates have pledged to stay away from its stores. In the investor call, Stack said that Dick’s continues “to see double-digit declines” in its gun business, and that the company “would expect that [sales] continue to be down.”

Dick’s showed its antipathy toward guns and the Second Amendment, when it announced it would destroy the guns, it was no longer selling in its stores, in February of 2018. It takes a special kind of commitment to an ideology not connected to your business, to destroy inventory worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.  This virtue signals to some people. Those people are probably a small minority of Dick’s customer base. By virtue signaling to them, the store signals to the majority of its customers that it does not share their values.

The only substantive effect destroying the guns is to increase gun manufacturers profits. The manufacturers merely increase production to meet the demand that was not satisfied by the guns Dick’s decided to destroy.

It is not a good business model. Dick’s hopes to make up for the drop in firearms and hunting products with an increase in online sales. What Dick’s seems to be doing, is working hard to change their customer base to one that aligns better with ownership’s ideology.

A business owner who separates business from politics have an advantage: they do not alienate any particular segment of society.

Market experts are wary of the change. They are waiting for the results.

Dick’s does not rely on guns and hunting for the majority of their income. They are not Smith & Wesson, which was driven to near extinction by decisions gun owners deemed to be anti-Second Amendment. But they are not immune to the pain caused by the CEO’s political decision.

They are being hurt by Second Amendment supporters refusing to buy at Dick’s. Other retailers are paying attention. Showing antipathy to Second Amendment supporters does not seem to be a wise business decision.


About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30-year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

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Jason

It has been a year and I avoid them like the plague they are.
Now they are running adverts in my area of town…..
LOL!

You are dead to me!

I dont mind a business changing its inventory approach, but a knee jerk
Holier than thou attitube gets my permanent ban.

1 year and I say to all of you, keep up the Boycott of Dicks Sporting Goods!!!

Get Out

I make it a point walking into dicks every now and then and ask the sales people about guns and ammunition. When they do the anti-gun thing I just say I’ll just go to Academy Sports from now on.

Joe Sciba

Dicks here hardly ever has anybody there except the employees. Sportsmans right down the street LOL!!

D

Well they can continue down the path they have started down that Sears, K-Mart, Montgomery &Wards, and few other stores did stop selling firearms then…. close doors bankrupt.

Tim

My favorite Dicks story is from about 15 years ago, apparently at the beginning of their anti gun road. I was going into Dicks to shop and noticed a sign on the front doors that said “all people with concealed weapons must report in at the customer service counter”. Being able honest and curious person I reported to the girls at the counter. They stared at me blankly. I told them about their sign and they had to call the manager to find out what to do. They ended up assigning a young man to escort me around the store.… Read more »

Perry

I removed myself from Dick’s some time ago. I will go where I’m appreciated.

Tom

Why Dick… Why? Ohh well doesnt matter to me. There’s no Dick’s where I live and I have no investment with Dick’s.

Patriot guy

Join the national boycott of Dicks! Shop and support your local gun shop!

Tommy

Nope! Not even Viagra will help the dick’s now!
(Just a bunch of demorat socialist commie lovers).

Rick

I am surprised there hasn’t been a shareholder lawsuit. A corporation is owned by shareholders and it is incumbent on the directors to protect shareholder interest. Stack came right out and admitted that he was knowingly destroying shareholder value with this decision. Furthermore, stores are being closed which affects his employees. His political statement cost shareholders and employees.

Edward A Allen

Heck! I won’t even go into a Dicks store. I try not to support ANY company that is anti-2A. That’s why I don’t have membership with AARP and don’t buy Levi’s. My mother in law was going to give me a gift card for Dick’s and I told her I would rather not have a gift at all.

Herb

Dicks

John Guionnaud

Haven’t step a foot in DICKS sence they started their anity gun nonsense. I go out of my way to other big box sporting good stores. Would not hurt my feelings if Dicks folds.

Roger

Dick’s CEO to shareholders “I’ve got a great new growth strategy, we’ll stop selling product to certain folks even though it’s legal to do so, we’ll stop selling certain merchandise and destroy all existing product stock because we think it’s ideologically correct to take the loss, we’ll continue to reduce selling other products into those markets even though it will cause a significant drop off in foot traffic, we’ll make sure we have nearly zero customer service people on the floor to assist the customers who happen to stumble into our store, and let’s make sure our prices are so… Read more »

BillyBob Texas

Well…….just DAMN THE BAD LUCK !! Maybe now I can go in there for a pair of athletic socks………Naaaaaaaahhhh. Not even that.

Wild Bill

Beware the Ides of March, Dicks.

Dennis Eagleberger

Don’t shop there, and never will. Dicks is definitely the right name for that company. Catering to the bicycle pants wearing crowd………

Keith

Actually to any crowd that involves athletic sports. Mainly football, baseball, and golf. Speaking of golf, don’t buy from Golf Galaxy either. Dick’s owns them and Field and Stream.

tomcat

Dicks had an ad in the local paper a couple of weeks ago and it still advertised long guns and ammo. As I looked through their ad I couldn’t help but notice how high their prices were on shoes, workout wear and a lot of other things. They are trying to stay afloat by jamming high prices down customer’s throats. As stupid as progressives are they might keep buying from them. I haven’t stepped foot in their door since they threw the progressive card at us and I will not step in their store. What a waste of expensive floor… Read more »

ras

10 4 to that Tomcat.

Charles Valenzuela

Burn in bankruptcy hell, Dicks. You dicks.

JPM

I heard that they’ll be changing their name to, “Limp Dicks”. Ellen Degeneres heard about them removing all their guns and stated that now she likes Dicks.

ras

JPM, I bet her wife/girlfriend is sorry to hear she now likes Dicks.

Patriot guy

Ha-ha, that made my day and i laughed!

John

Just another ideologist who places his “control” gun agenda above the stakeholders. Overrated overpriced retail B&M, probably why its parking lot has more employee vehicles than customers.

willy d

Years ago there was an outdoor in Allentown Pa, called Nester’s Sporting Goods, it was in years gone passed one of basic 2 places to go to purchase hunting supplies, very knowledgeable staff, they took hunting trips and showed them at one of the Sportsman’s Clubs, which I went to several times. Their knowledge was very good and the staff was always helpful when I wanted to purchase a firearm.Years had passed and the store lost their way as the staff retired and the next generation took over, they then started to faze out the hunting department in favor of… Read more »

Pistol Pete

I will never ever buy anything from those socialist Cockroaches!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
I will never even set foot in one of there stores.
My hope is that all 2nd Amendment Supporters or Gun Owners will do the same.
I also hope they go out of business!!!!

Gabe Silva

I feel the same way, I will never step foot in one of their stores

Will Flatt

WHAT, THEY’RE NOT OUT OF BUSINESS YET?????

Ron

As has been stated here in the past, Their ‘namesake’ say’s it all.

Vincent Brady

Dicks’ announced it would destroy the guns. Funny, anyone see them destroy the guns? Probably they did not!

Wesman78

They are probably stocking them up for the next false flag attack to promote more gun control.

Laddyboy

They can go BANK-RUPT! I REFUSE to shop in a store that is ANTI-American. BYE-BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Macofjack

Don’t be a DICK!

durabo

So, DUCK FICK’S! When their local store shuts down, I will drink a magnum of Champagne, ad whizz at their front door in celebration.

Bob999

A good rule of good business is to avoid politics and religion. If you cannot avoid it, be darned sure you pick the one that has longevity. See, majority opinion swings like a pendulum. Today, Dicks barely survives because half the country still thinks this newly branded global-socialist movement is hip. Eventually, that pendulum will viciously swing the other way. Dicks may think they have a revenue problem today, wait until the pendulum mows them down. Dicks is on the path to bankruptcy even if they know it or not.

Freeillinois
The Revelator

Let all who come here witness this and see, Green Watch Dog wants this type of result.

He has been here for months now, advocating Government control and confiscation, violating the Constitution, even up to and including the murder of law abiding Americans who resist his plans for confiscation.

Let Everyone you know hear from you about his plans that he himself advocates for gun control and that he is a lying, honor less, coward that deserves to be recognized as a traitor to this country.

Robert J. Lucas

@ Revelator,
Anti-Constitionalists=Anti-Americans=Enemies of the States…
As I have said before, Anti-constitutionalist’s sense of morality is situational, based on incident and emotion, instead of rooted in God’s word and law.
Anti-constitutionalist’s stand for nothing. The situation determines their support for an issue and their emotions rule, not reason and rationality.
Moreover, they recognize the contradiction, but still cling to their situational justice. Situational justice is the tool of dictators, tyrants, despots, and unjust, unrighteous monarchs. It has no place in a free constitutional republic. In which the United States of America is……………….

The Revelator

Well said. Very much what I myself have said in the past. Although I think the term I used was Emotional Justice, not situational. It equates to the same thing however. Preying on the emotions of some while directed at a perceived threat to maintain power until their control is uncontestable.

Good post RJL.

Mike

The boycott of Dicks is working. They continue to close stores. This is a case study in how not to manage a business. Let them follow the path of Sears.

Green Mtn. Boy

I will pull a cork in celebration the day they shutter their doors for good.

Walter Goddard

Make sure it’s not one AOC has used!

Roy D.

You reap what you sow.

Walter Goddard

Dick’s is the home of “Let’s Make Sport of Gun Owners'”…

They announced plans to remove all hunting products from 125 stores…
How will the Politically Incorrect ever decide which hunting product is strictly a hunting product vs. a product used for fishing, camping, or cooking out, as well?

Maybe they’ll just close up shop and join in with Bloomberg?

Joe

Fishing rods kill fish. Ban them too you idiots!

Walter Goddard

Well, I’ve been saying so! Let’s not kick the hornet’s nest yet though 🙂 I’m allergic… .. watch out for the dominos to fall. Tree hugging, animal rights, cruelty, etc….. Stupid is, as stupid does. Cause and affect, stupidity on demand, and abundance of supply! The sportsmen who litter too… !00’s-1,000’s mountain climbers got the boot from China. No one allowed past base camp, except for a few hundred a year. Canada shut down some public access over litter… World wide, tourism is cracking down on: pollution, over crowding, stupidity of people ruining it for everyone else. Responsibility people! Wait… Read more »

The Green Watch Dog

The store in the city where I live was a good place to shop with competitive prices. Now will go to other big box stores to shop. Their choice, but many hunters in my area.

Dan

Cabelas ran an ad for a 2A sale the day after this was announced. Brilliant!