Dick's Sporting Goods admits suffering gun policy backlash as sales slide

[Ronald_55]

 

Odd they admitted

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/business/dicks-sporting-goods-admits-suffering-gun-policy-backlash-as-sales-slide

 

Thursday, November 29, 2018

 

 

 

 

Dick's Sporting Goods admits suffering gun policy backlash as sales slide

by Joe Williams

 | November 28, 2018 10:56 AM

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Sales at Dick's Sporting Goods dropped in the past three months amid backlash against tighter gun-sale restrictions following a mass killing early this year at a Florida high school.

Revenue dipped 4.5 percent to $1.86 billion amid challenges in the company's hunting business during the quarter through Nov. 3. Sales at stores open at least 12 months – a key metric for the retail industry – fell 6.1 percent compared to the prior year.

Dick's raised the minimum age to purchase a gun to 21 and stopped selling assault rifles last February after a Valentine's Day shooting in Broward County that left 17 students and staff dead. The decision sparked opposition from conservative activists, some of whom had proposed arming teachers in response and threatened to boycott the brand, and prompted at least one employee to resign.

While Chief Executive Officer Edward Stack previously said the firearms policy brought in new customers and sales were reported as flat in August, Dick's has now warned that "negative reaction" could affect future results.

Despite lower sales, cost management and a higher margin helped the Pittsburgh-based sporting goods chain boost profit 2.5 percent to $37 million. Stack is investing in new bricks-and-mortar stores, opening six in the quarter, and bolstering the firm's e-commerce business, where sales climbed 16 percent.

"Our efforts have been focused on driving profitable sales and managing our business to deliver higher earnings," Stack said in a statement.

The company "accelerated freight coming in for January" in response to President Trump's tariffs on $250 billion in products from China and said it would, among other actions, raise prices on customers in 2019 to help mitigate the added costs. Trump has threatened to hike the tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent and extend the levies to an additional $267 billion in imports.

 

 

[bersaguy]

They made that bed so let them lay in it. Maybe some of these companies that jump on the anti-gun train might want to do some research first to see how many people in this country purchase guns, own guns and hunt with guns. It's not just the right that own gun! People on the left purchase them also and they hunt also.........JMHO 

[btq96r]

Not odd.  It was on the quarterly earnings call, so they threw out every excuse they could without raising the panic flag.  Dick's is trying to reassure investors that despite the firearms issues, the rest of the business is fundamentally sound.  That's a challenge any retail outlet chain is having, Dick's just decided being opposed by gun enthusiasts was a better evil than by Moms Demand Action, or the Parkland kids.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4225214-dicks-sporting-goods-inc-dks-ceo-edward-stack-q3-2018-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single

 

Here are a few quotes from the CFO direct to guns...

"Specific to hunt, in addition to the strategic decisions we made regarding firearms earlier this year, the broader industry has decelerated and remains weak as evidenced by most recent National Background Check Data. We believe this also contributed to the decline we saw during the quarter."

This is him saying the firearms industry in general is slowing down, and even if they didn't do what they did, revenue from guns, wouldn't have mattered.

"Some of the equipment businesses, particularly outdoor equipment they – the comp sales were down, some of that driven a little bit by weather and probably some of it driven by some of the firearms customers that we have also involved with the outdoor equipment and camp categories and so on that – so that business down a bit as we started to see during the second and into the third quarter as well."

A legit admission that people who used to buy guns at Dick's were taking their business elsewhere for the other things they sell.

Side note: whenever most companies are blaming the weather, some fundamental issues are rotten.

 

So, they're admitting it...but not blaming it for their financial woes.  Probably true enough, it's just really hard to be a retail store today in general.  They seem to have not done themselves any favors, though.

 

Edited November 29, 2018 by btq96r

[bersaguy]

1 hour ago, btq96r said:

Not odd.  It was on the quarterly earnings call, so they threw out every excuse they could without raising the panic flag.  Dick's is trying to reassure investors that despite the firearms issues, the rest of the business is fundamentally sound.  That's a challenge any retail outlet chain is having, Dick's just decided being opposed by gun enthusiasts was a better evil than by Moms Demand Action, or the Parkland kids.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4225214-dicks-sporting-goods-inc-dks-ceo-edward-stack-q3-2018-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single

 

Here are a few quotes from the CFO direct to guns...

"Specific to hunt, in addition to the strategic decisions we made regarding firearms earlier this year, the broader industry has decelerated and remains weak as evidenced by most recent National Background Check Data. We believe this also contributed to the decline we saw during the quarter."

This is him saying the firearms industry in general is slowing down, and even if they didn't do what they did, revenue from guns, wouldn't have mattered.

"Some of the equipment businesses, particularly outdoor equipment they – the comp sales were down, some of that driven a little bit by weather and probably some of it driven by some of the firearms customers that we have also involved with the outdoor equipment and camp categories and so on that – so that business down a bit as we started to see during the second and into the third quarter as well."

A legit admission that people who used to buy guns at Dick's were taking their business elsewhere for the other things they sell.

Side note: whenever most companies are blaming the weather, some fundamental issues are rotten.

 

So, they're admitting it...but not blaming it for their financial woes.  Probably true enough, it's just really hard to be a retail store today in general.  They seem to have not done themselves any favors, though.

 

Putting their stupid decision out there and then blaming everything including the weather still does not add to their bottom line in profits and that is all investors are interested in seeing is profits.......JMHO

[volshayes]

Bad Decisions = Bad Results

[DaveTN]

Sales are down, so they plan to remove all hunting gear….genius. 

 

Quote

 

Dick's Sporting Goods looking into removing all hunting gear from its stores

After removing all assault rifles and initiating new gun sale policies at all 732 of its stores, Dick's Sporting Goods is contemplating removing all hunting gear from its stores, company CEO Edward Stack said in a Nov. 28 conference call. 

In a test run, the company removed all hunting products from 10 stores where hunting gear was underperforming and replaced it with assortments in categories such as baseball, licensed products and outerwear, according to the call. 

"Though it's too early to discuss performance, we're optimistic these changes will better serve the athletes in these communities," Stack said. 
Early reactions appear favorable, but Stack cautioned it's too early to make any conclusions.  

Stack stated during the call that the company will continue to optimize its assortment with a stronger emphasis on key items and a renewed focused on the enthusiast athlete. 

https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/west/news/brookfield/2018/11/29/dicks-sporting-goods-considering-removing-all-hunting-supplies/2147807002/

 

 

[Chucktshoes]

2 hours ago, DaveTN said:

Sales are down, so they plan to remove all hunting gear….genius. 

 

 

It’s actually a pretty solid idea. They completely alienated that market. So why not just dump it entirely and focus on the sports moms and dads.  It doesn’t matter to me one way or another because I don’t shop there, but I can definitely see the merit in that course of action. 

[Grayfox54]

Firearms and hunting gear were never a big part of Dick's bottom line. These items were a very small part of the store. The one here caters more to soccer moms and trendy millennial  sports team fashions than actual sporting goods.  If Dick's goes under, it won't be because of gun policy. It'll be because they make stupid decisions in other departments as well. 

[A.J. Holst]

4 minutes ago, Grayfox54 said:

Firearms and hunting gear were never a big part of Dick's bottom line. These items were a very small part of the store. The one here caters more to soccer moms and trendy millennial  sports team fashions than actual sporting goods.  If Dick's goes under, it won't be because of gun policy. It'll be because they make stupid decisions in other departments as well. 

I think they underestimated the dad / husband demographic.

If you can't get him in the store to shop with wife / kids, he isn't spending on over priced non firearm stuff as well.

Good luck to them, I have thrown away their mailed adverts for years.

[Spiffy]

On 11/29/2018 at 11:39 AM, bersaguy said:

They made that bed so let them lay in it. Maybe some of these companies that jump on the anti-gun train might want to do some research first to see how many people in this country purchase guns, own guns and hunt with guns. It's not just the right that own gun! People on the left purchase them also and they hunt also.........JMHO 

They also catered to people who never had and never would shop in their stores.

[xsubsailor]

With sales falling after the implementation of corporate gun control Dick’s Sporting Goods may have to close 35 stores across 18 states.

 

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/11/corporate-gun-control-fail-dicks-may-close-35-stores-across-18-states/

[Omega]

1 hour ago, xsubsailor said:

With sales falling after the implementation of corporate gun control Dick’s Sporting Goods may have to close 35 stores across 18 states.

 

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/11/corporate-gun-control-fail-dicks-may-close-35-stores-across-18-states/

[Raoul]

When you act like a Dick in a store named Dick's you get what you deserve.

[frankmako]

good.  i have not been in one of their stores in years.  i don't plan on ever going in no matter how good the sale is.  i vote with my money and don't waste my money at places that does not think the same way as i do.  i do the same way with tv, 99% of most shows are junk and were not made for me. 

Edited December 12, 2018 by frankmako

[Raoul]

I think it just shows a lack of character. Sometimes a fella has to take a stand and what Dicks did showed a complete lack of character. They wanted our money until they had to make a stand. 

Spineless b@$+@rds.