One analyst thinks Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO Ed Stack has shown other big retailers exactly what will happen to them if they’re perceived as anti-gun.
Analysts think Dick’s has sent the message that it’s moving away from firearms sales, and those sales are moving elsewhere.
“All Dick’s has done to themselves is alienate their customer base,” said David Almasi, vice president of the National Center for Public Policy Research, whose Free Enterprise Project invests in publicly traded companies and uses its status as a shareholder to advocate for conservative policies.
At the annual meeting of Dick’s shareholders last year, Almasi and Justin Danhof, the head of the Free Enterprise Project, pressed Stack on the company’s decision to raise the minimum age for firearms purchases in the aftermath of the Florida high school shooting, which left 17 dead. He plans to return this year.
In the meantime, Almasi doesn’t expect stores like Bass Pro, Gander Outdoor or Walmart, which has more than 5,000 U.S. stores, to stop selling guns or ammunition. Cabela’s megastore in Gainesville, Va., has the Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right to bear arms etched in its walls, he noted.
“If anything, these other companies now have a clear warning of what will happen to them” if they take actions perceived as unfriendly by gun rights advocates, Almasi told the Washington Examiner.
– James Langford in Where can you buy guns if Dick’s stops selling them? Almost anywhere
At least where I live (New Jersey), Dicks’ gun & ammo selection was so pathetic and the staff so ignorant and lazy that they won’t be missed as a firearms retailer.
I used to buy shotgun shells and clays there all the time, because it’s right between me and the range. Also bought clothes sometimes. Haven’t bought a damn thing there in over a year.
I’m sure Dick’s will be alright. I’m going to go buy some Nikes from there lol
cool story bro
Yeah, they’re doing great unless they actually care about sales growth and profit growth. stack will be fired by the board as they continue to underperform
Stack is the son of the founder and controls a majority of the voting stock. He isn’t going anywhere and is willing to run the company into the ground if that’s what it takes to satisfy his ego.
I don’t think my local Dicks has actually sold a gun since the 90s. There’s never anyone at the counter. I doubt anyone in the store knows what a 4473 actually is.
Too true. Last time I was at a Dick’s gun counter, the alleged “department manager” muzzled me twice when handling a pistol behind the counter. 100% idiots in there.
They will learn that gun owners never forgive and never forget. Bill Ruger had to die before some folks would buy a gun from them. Smith & Wesson has pee’d off a lot of folks for adding the “Hillary hole”. The rifle stock company that hired Lon Horiuchi as a spokesman, and ask all the gun control politicians that lost their jobs in the 1994 midterm elections. I won’t so much as buy a pair of socks from Dick’s.
Dick’s used to be a convenient place for me to pick up ammo from time to time. I won’t buy anything from them now: not ammo, not socks, not anything.
I finally realized that I avoid even go into a shopping center that has Dick’s for a tenant.
Lots of gun owners, including writers and readers of this blog have forgiven Springfield Armory, after less than two years (quite a bit short of never). Thus it sure appears to me like many gun owners do forgive. Not saying they will or won’t if Dick’s radically changed their policies rather just that they have indeed forgive before.
To be fair, there’s a huge difference. Springfield, when called on it, repented and fought vigorously to defeat the law that their lobbyists had brokered a deal on.
Dick’s, on the other hand, not only stopped selling certain items, but they actually declared their anti-2nd Amendment advocacy, and started lobbying for gun control.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-03/dick-s-sporting-goods-ramps-up-gun-control-push-hires-lobbyist
They didn’t just sell out, they actively declared themselves our enemy. That doesn’t get forgiven.
You’re right …….Dicks sold out and went anti-2nd amendment.
Trying to covertly use the government to harm your competitors and at the expense of your customers and their rights is a significant moral crime. As far as Springfield Armory’s (a name association they bought) ‘contrition’, you don’t think they did/are doing so out of financial self interest? Their offense made clear their priorities of motivation. Why support them when there are companies with arguably better products that have not demonstrated such a lack of moral restraint?
Dick’s has dicked themselves! No pun intended!
Springfield got caught stabbing the 2nd in the back, Dicks does it openly. Not sure which is worse but I wouldn’t trust either.
Not me…
Which rifle stock company that hire Lon the murderer ?
Typo, HIRED
Maybe he is getting Lon mixed up with the other RR sniper a Troy Industries’ subsidiary hired a while back? Just guessing.
HS Precision.
I thought it was HS Precision – could be wrong, though.
That company was HS Precision
Agreed, I wont buy S&W products to this day, they can keep their colluding firearms to themselves.
“They will learn that gun owners never forgive and never forget.”
Well said! Not when it comes to pi$$ing on our Second Amendment rights, and that will never change.
“Smith & Wesson has pee’d off a lot of folks for adding the “Hillary hole”.
Still won’t touch a Smith with a Hillary Hole evidently the pricks at Dicks weren’t smart enough to learn from S&W Hillary Hole debacle and hit the hole,whole hog.
I’ve been at a Dick’s store mebbe 4 times. Pathetic customer service on a Wal-Mart level. Without the low prices. Dick’s sux…good riddence!
Amen, Brother. Dick’s opened a store locally, for me, and I went to check it out. Their gun and ammo prices were just crazy so I De De’d on out of there. I’ve looked at their ads in the newspaper and nothing seems to have changed in over 3 years. The roof can fall in on that store for all I care because I’ll never go back. I’ll just keep going to my LGS where I know and trust them.
I recently came to realize that most people in the US have no idea what it’s like to have a group of your once-accepting peers turn and declare you lesser.
Sure, they feel that a “small but vocal minority” (it’s always a small but vocal minority) of gun owners are working against them. They might even feel some persecution, because they can’t get their cakes decorated by people they hate. A small group may even have direct experience with violence against them, but not learned anything from it (and for example, I have been physically attacked for not being straight, but I decided it wouldn’t happen again).
But for the most part, they’ve never had a place that… even if they weren’t regulars, they might have been customers.. straight up tell them their business and their money isn’t wanted. Starbucks has never decided to stop catering to hipsters and only sell drip coffee. The local car wash has never decided that soccer moms were on the outs, and stopped cleaning minivans. No national yoga studio chain has ever come out and said that African Americans don’t deserve purple yoga mats. Ford has never said.. y’know what, Mustangs are toxically masculine, so we’re only selling the Focus now.
I don’t think they even realize that they’re poking a bear, much less how large the bear is or how many times people before them have poked it into a state of semi-wakefulness.
Well said.
I agree 100%, except even though gun owners are the minority, it’s not a small minority, at around 140 million gun owners in this country, that’s a very large minority. And there are a many in yhe gay community that are pro gun. Shall not be infringed means just that. The best to you, and yours.
I am not sure what points you were making, sorry. However, I’d say that the right to associate or not as one wishes is more important than peoples feelings, or even convenience, and that trade is not different than other human activities is this. I also don’t see how physical aggression, which is clearly a crime, is related to this matter. I don’t know whether I am agreeing with you about this or not:-\
Casey, thanks…. this is one of the best things I’ve read in a long time. Well written, well stated.
Thanks, more people need to be like yourself…
Ken
I never purchased firearms or related items from Dick’s, but they were my go-to for shirts/jogging pants/sneakers, etc. Now I won’t buy anything from them at all.
Guns and shooting related products are not the only things Dick’s sells and if Dick’s thought all they would loose is gun products sales, then they might ought to think again!
I bought a game camera from Dick’s. They still stock nice archery equipment, I think. But I do not plan to ever go into their store again.
I seriously doubt they “stock nice archery equipment.” For that you’ll need 3 Rivers or Lancaster, etc. and any of a number of traditional / custom bowyers. Arrows with vanes and bows with training wheels… hard pass.
If you run a privately held company, then sure feel free to step into any political mess you want to. But it seems to me that for a publicly held company, the executives are violating their fiduciary duty to the shareholders by getting involved in any heated political debate. You can’t win. You’re going to piss off some part of your customer base. Therefore, you’re not acting with the best interests of your shareholders and you’re opening yourself up to lawsuits. And if ever there was a good reason to sue a company’s management team, Dick’s is the poster child.
Exactly!
That why I believe that publicly-traded corporations should be highly-regulated to ensure adherence to their fiduciary duties and be required to provide their products and/or services to anyone or everyone and for all legal transactions. That includes social media and banks.
Dicks should only be able to eliminate all firearms and accessories if the shareholders vote for that.
Sole proprietors and closely-held corporations should have the full array of Constitutional rights and the enumerated rights in the Bill of Rights should take precedence over all other laws and regulations (i.e. – public accommodation laws).
I disagree with “highly regulated”. From what I can see, the government doesn’t exactly have my best interests at heart.
The corrective response should be (and is) disaffected shareholders either voting in new leadership, or selling their stock. Most people have chosen to withdraw their investment (thus the stock price drop). Let Dick’s Sporting Goods be the #1 go-to seller of yoga mats and blinking running shoes, no skin off my nose. But make bad decision, suffer bad consequences.
Inviting the government into regulate more of anyones behavior (private or professional) is dangerous territory. What can you expect the government to do with the power you grant it, except to exercise that power as often and as far as it can?
What I mean by “highly regulated” is only to ensure they uphold their fiduciary duty and don’t discriminate against any legal transaction.
In my view, sole proprietors and closely-held corporations only have a fiduciary duty to themselves and should have all of the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights. They should have the right to refuse to do business in any way that would interfere with their Constitutional rights (and potentially suffer the financial impact of exercising those rights).
I believe that these huge (sometimes multi-national corporations with no true allegiance to any country) pose a greater risk to individual liberty than the government does. I’m thinking Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, BOA, Chase, Citibank, MasterCard, VISA, etc.
Not only are these corporations colluding with certain Leftist bureaucrats within the US Administrative State to curtail liberty (Operation Choke Point), they are now taking similar actions on their own (and sometimes at the direction of the Chinese – Google & Apple).
I would like to see these behemoths restrained from harming individual liberties in the same way that the US Government is. If we don’t do this, Communist China will be running America in the near future.
The simple truth is that business leaders who truly believe in capitalism, limited government and democracy do not support leftist politics. They instinctively know leftists are not the friends of businessmen. These modern, so called hip business people believe in left wing fascism and expect to control it with strategically placed charitable and political donations. They think they can manage the social and political landscape they way they do their businesses and employees.
“These modern, so called hip business people believe in left wing fascism and expect to control it with strategically placed charitable and political donations.”
It just so happens that these companies run by “hip business people” happen to be largest corporations in the world. Their size and power should frighten anyone concerned about individual liberty.
I confess, I bought shotgun shells on sale, for less than $5.00 a box last year. The kids in that department were really nice. (Tinley Park) They even found a bigger cardboard box for me to carry them. These are the kids who will lose their jobs when they close that department.
They may or may not, depending on whether the store (or another one in the area) is understaffed at the moment. Not always, but very often, it’s less expensive to do that than to train up somebody new.
Hopefully, though, the kids will learn a broader lesson from the closing of their department.
Get “woke” … go broke.
It’ll be interesting to see how Gillette fairs after their recent foray into SJW decrying of “toxic masculinity”. This thought crossed my mind earlier in the week, when, for the first time in over a decade, I didn’t buy Gillette razor cartridge refills and picked up a Schick Hydro razor off the shelf.
(The Schick Hydro gives a damn good shave, btw)
I’ve followed the same practice; wrote OFF Gillette henceforth. It’s as simple as that. Unfortunately, the list of Anti-Seconds, etc. keeps growing but there are alternatives. As noted above, we simply choose to drive farther to obtain the needed product (a small sacrifice to pay for upholding our beliefs).
I switched to Harry’s, also a fine shave
I chose Schick over Gillette many years ago. I researched the two companies and found that Gillette was an avowed communist and couldn’t stop proclaiming how great the Soviet Union was. Schick, on the other hand, was a captain in the U S Army during WWI and modeled his first cartridge razor blade dispenser after the magazines in the bolt action rifles in use at the time. He was a true American and capitalist thru and thru.
I had no idea about Gillette. Better late than never, I guess.
Gillette added their name to my shite list when they started with the virtue signaling. I just want a friggin’ razor for Christ sakes. Can you stop it and leave me in peace with my life. I hate being preached to and constantly corrected by someone I’m giving my money to. Same with Nike; these companies will learn the hard way that when you piss off half your customer base, there are financial consequences.
Dick’s–the name says it all. Haven’t set foot in one of their stores since Mr. Jerky started with the anti-2A BS. I will drive out of my way and spend more for an item rather than shop in Dick’s.
Hey, I just found another good reason to keep my beard!
In years past I bought a 870, 2 savage rim fires and a savage .308 from Dicks in addition to hunting clothes, ammo, fishing gear, costs, shoes and even a gun box. I probably have them 5000 dollars or more in sales.
Now not one fucking dime ever again.
Chew on that Ed Stack , as I go to cabelas and the LGS. I’ll do on line and pay shipping. I vote with my wallet as do many others. The people egging you on won’t spend more and many never even went there in the first place. That’s called being a useful tool for the mob.
Following the path of Sports Authority…right to bankruptcy and closure…good riddance
A dicks employee in SD was trying too blow smoke up my A&&, I was visiting my Nephew and needed some ammo , while looking at the junk bushmaster’s in .223/ 5.56. This Kid employee was telling me it was the best thing since popcorn! when i told him I did not like anything at all about the .223/5.56 platform and I preferred a bolt action for one shot one kill, instead of spray and pray, he then went into a spiel about how smooth running it was etc, so I asked him if I could open it up he said yes, Being a SE Asia war-games player back in the day I stripped the bolt the recoil spring and going for more when he stopped me and asked me too put it back together I told him no because I forgot how!
Bravo!
The closest one to me is a couple hours’ drive, so I’m not a regular customer of them anyway. Not that it will hurt them that much in our case, but they’re on our “do not buy” list as well.
I think, however, I am going to write the mutual fund managers I invest with, and ask them to divest from Dick’s because of their discriminatory policies that also show a breach of fiduciary trust.
In short, dont be a Dick!
“Dick’s Has Shown Other Big Retailers What Not to Do When it Comes to Guns”
DSG, the sacrificial lesson lamb…
Per previous posts: (1) Dick’s made a choice and so did I (haven’t graced the doors of the three Dick’s stores routinely visited prior to Dick’s taking a Leftist view; (2) ALL purchases previously directed at Dick’s have been made elsewhere (a cheaper Dick’s price now will never be an incentive to award Dick’s with my purchases; (3) As a retailer, Dick’s should have realized that a customer’s positive comment(s) may be shared with with one colleague whereas a negative comment will be shared, on average (depending on the study) with 12-16 colleagues. Note: I may have exceeded the 12-16 negative commentaries but I’m still working on it!
I believe most of the folks here already made this prediction. Who is National Center for Public Policy Research?
Let the free market decide the fate of Dick’s. We all know what to do without having to be told.
Pun intended, Dicking with something Constitutional usually is not a way to be successful.
Isn’t that where Jussie Smollet hangs out???
Since 2012, Dick’s has done everything it can to insult gun owners and is shocked — SHOCKED! — that the stores’ hunting sector went down the tubes.
That’s like a urologist kicking all his patients in the b@lls and then wondering why they don’t show up for their next appointment.
I think I went to that doctor.
How could it possibly help any company to take sides in the culture wars?
Dicks doesn’t sell one extra pair of yoga pants by alienating thousands of gun owners.
If they just had just dropped guns from their inventory saying there was not enough profit, no one would’ve said anything.
Now I will drive miles out of my way to buy a soccer ball from super Walmart instead of going to the local Dicks store.
Could someone explain to me why they would take sides like that?
If your business is down or your product sucks you can get a short burst of customers of one partisan persuasion by alienating the other. It won’t last but if bankruptcy is inevitable it may earn enough for some bonus payouts before closing the doors.
Likewise playing partisan gets your nee book, movie, appearance a quick publicity shot.
Dicks concluded sometime back in 2010 its days were numbered along with several other big box retailers.
“Could someone explain to me why they would take sides like that?”
Because they believe they are doing The Right Thing. Quote from Bloomberg article:
Chief Executive Officer Edward Stack said at the time that while the company supports second-amendment rights, “we have to help solve the problem that’s in front of us. Gun violence is an epidemic that’s taking the lives of too many people, including the brightest hope for the future of America–our kids.”
Edward Stack “got woke”. He will now go broke.
” the brightest hope for the future of America–our kids. ”
Mmmm, I don’t know about that. I live in a college town– I’m not seeing or hearing a whole lot that makes me optimistic about the future of America.
Fortune Magazine has been telling companies for some time now that they should be about a lot more than selling stuff – they have to put their company “beliefs” front and center and do some social good. Fortune used to be a great business mag – now it is kitty litter. And, by the way, Levi Strauss (of all companies) has also jumped on the anti-gun bandwagon. I now wear Wranglers.
Them going bankrupt will demonstrate who the consumers are in this country. @ ed stack, Don’t let the dick doors hit you on the way out when they close for good.
Here in Jacksonville, N.C. (a Military City) We Have a Dick’s Sporting Goods Store, But Guess What? We Also Have At Least 6 Gun Stores Not Including The Academy Sports That We Also Have!!! So Dick’s Loss Is Their (and Mine) Gain…
I could care less if Dicks wanted to get out of firearms because they were not profitable but they did it to make a anti Second Amendment statement and have contributed heavily to anti gun causes which means part of every dollar spend at Dick’s is going to anti gun groups so screw them I will never step foot in one again. Dick’s thought that sales lost to firearm owners would be picked up and exceeded buy SJW basement dwellers but they are wrong. I don’t expect the local one in this area to be in business much longer.
Maybe Dick’s can make up the lost gun revenue by selling Yeti coolers. Wahahaha!!!
Dicks owns the 35 Field & Stream stores across the U.S., which mimic Cabelas/ Bass Pro themes. They discontinued selling ‘assault weapons’ last year. Let’s see what Dicks does with those 35 stores.
I work at a business that just started to sell to Dick’s. Out of the hundreds of commercial customers globally, they are the only ones to actually do charge backs on shipments that have mistakes. They’ll make smaller orders to ship to individual stores, usually less than a thousand, then turn around and charge back us 500 bucks on some typo on randomly generated numbers that they generate for us that we have to email them for since unlike other companies that information can not be prepopulated into our order system. Hell, they’ve even gotten us on an EDI label being put on the wrong side on the box.
I mean, other businesses also have that right to charge us back when me make mistakes, and a lot of them make small orders too, but out of the 4 years my company has shipped stuff, we have never been charged back on even the most messed up mistakes. Most companies realize shit happens and they just want their stuff. The worst that has happened is that they want us to over night items if any were missing.
It takes us like 3 to 4 days to get dick’s shipments ready to go out due to their system being messed up and slow and us triple checking every of their shipments so we don’t actually lose money on them. Even exports that could be several pallets can be shipped out same day once payment clears if there is stock. We’ve been making dick’s jokes at work for almost two weeks now.
Once Dicks announced they were no longer selling firearms and ammo I took my business elsewhere. I do not support retailers who do not support our rights. Cant wait til the go out of business.
Dick’s is way overpriced compared to other retailers with regards to just about every item they sell. I use to buy most of my golf equipment there but now I can get it cheaper at other retailers and now that I know Dick’s is anti 2nd amendment they won’t get any of my money.
I used to shop at Dicks, but when they came out as anti-gun weirdos, then I stopped shopping there.
I’m just not going to shop there rather support local family owned shops even if it’s a little more money.
I have purchased from Dick’s in the past. It was a Mossberg 12 gauge pump with a second barrel which was rifled and had a cantilever scope mount. The gun was on sale and was the cheapest there. I think it was at least 12 or more years ago. That is the only firearm I have ever purchased from Dick’s. I will drive a few miles further to go to Academy Sports or to Cabela’s. Heck, I will even go to The Crazy Gun Dealer in Alvarado and deal with the crowd before going bact to Dick’s.
I stopped going to dicks, having previously bought my golf, athletic, and firearm gear from them. Now I won’t allow the Mrs to go there either. Since I make the green, I decide where my hard earned cash is spent. She can buy whatever she wants from other places, just not dicks. funny thing is that the local dicks used to be full of shoppers, now, even their parking lots are empty. WTG, Dicks, you really are dicks.
Maybe one of these big box stores once a year has a deal on a weapon that might get one’s attention. You quickly find out they had 10 of the advertised guns available and your are the 11th customer.
Otherwise, who goes to any of these places to purchase a firearm? I go to the mom and pop stores not just to support the moms and pops out there, but because there is 99.9% of the time a better deal waiting at the mom and pop stores. Add to this that those moms and pops actually know what they are selling and have great advice.
Here in GA, Barrow in Butler, GA (which takes 45 seconds to drive through, if you catch the light) runs rings around most every other gun seller – but not always. People drive 200 miles to get to Butler to do their gun shopping.
I appreciate Cabela’s towing the line, but somebody has to pay for those beautiful stores.
AsI have said at least a couple of times, be interesting to see how many people become former Dick’s customers. As for myself, I never made significant purchases there, either in number or in dollar value. I will not be making any purchases at Dicks in the foreseeable future.
I’m waiting for the going out of business sale.
Dicks goes the way of Sports Authority…
Next stop – bankruptcy.
Go Dicks!
Dicks In Arizona doesn’t even sell fishing 🎣 equipment… The store is a waste of money and time…
My girlfiend said she likes Dicks
I have never bought anything shooting related from Dicks. I also decided I won’t buy running shoes, won’t buy yoga stuff for the wife, won’t buy soccer cleats, etc for the kids, camping chairs, sleeping bags………
Getting the picture Dicks?
I changed my mind. I would still go to Dick’s. To P on the floor.
I readily buy ammo from Academy (they continue to have great prices), but I wouldn’t buy a bottle of water from Dicks If I were hiking across a Desert and they were the only thing for miles.
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