Dick's Sporting Goods guns 125 stores
Anthony92931 [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

After eliminating guns from 10 of their stores last year, Dick’s Sporting Goods is pulling all firearms and hunting gear from 125 of their 850 Dick’s and 35 Field & Stream stores.

According to Fox Business:

The in-store sections will be replaced with “merchandise categories that can drive growth,” (CEO Ed Stack) said.

Following a shooting in Florida in February 2018 that left 17 students and staff dead, Dick’s hiked the minimum age to purchase a gun to 21 and prohibited the sale of AR-15 style rifles.

While Stack previously predicted it would bring in new customers, the decision has led to a decline in earnings in the firm’s hunting business.

In the three months through Feb. 2, declines in the sector drove a 3.7 percent drop in same-store sales. Overall, sales dropped 6.5 percent to $2.5 billion, the company said on Tuesday. Profits fell to $694 million, or adjusted to $1.22 per share – higher than analysts expected.

Gun owners have rejected the retailer after they pulled “assault rifles” from Dick’s and Field & Stream stores following the Parkland shooting, then rubbed salt in the wound by funding gun control lobbying efforts in Washington.

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125 COMMENTS

    • Field & Stream store with no hunting gear? Stream & Stream?

      Oh well. Free market at work. Let’s see how it goes for them. Any other wishes are just anti-capitalism .

      • Lets hope capitalism works to eliminate these guys. If you want to remove hunting equipment, fine by me, but to actually use the companys’ cash to hire anti gun lobbyists is over the top, that is beyond capitalism.

      • @DETENT

        That first line of yours was very funny. Didn’t hurt a bit that it was accurate too.

    • “The in-store sections will be replaced with “merchandise categories that can drive growth,” (CEO Ed Stack) said.”

      Pot maybe? Add in some black masks and liberally sprinkle with bike locks. That should ‘drive growth’.

  2. I hope they go out of business,,, I stopped shopping there, they are too expensive anyway,,, I also cancelled my Field & Stream magazine subscription…

    • Field & Stream magazine has absolutely nothing to do with Field & Stream stores. You canceled your sub for no reason.

      • I bet money changed hands for the naming rights and maybe even an ongoing % of sales.
        Just saying.

    • The one here in my town when it first opened had the best price on shotguns on town, so long as you wanted a politically correct shotgun like an under over or low capacity pump action. I don’t buy from them but do occasionally look as I work next door and sometimes don’t bring a lunch. Since they did their virtue signaling and gutting of their customer base their gun prices have jumped atleast 20%. I wouldn’t buy form them before but I certainly won’t now.

      • Before all of their bs i bought three savage rascals for under $50.00 each as well as a mossberg 500 for 80.00 and tc compass for my dad for 125.00. I won’t shop there now however.

        • I’ll admit to picking up a few Savage .22s at Dicks at incredibly low prices (way below what my favorite FFL shippers ever got down to). Pre-sandy hook, of course.

          Locally, they tag-end a mall at a food court. Parking is handy there, so I walk through. Sometimes if I pass by a shopper, I’ll tell them where they can find an item they are looking at cheaper, particularly if a staffer is nearby.

      • Very astute! That’s the same attitude anti-gun legislators have: “Well, that law didn’t work, let’s pass some more laws, and make ’em more ‘commonsenserer’ than the ones from before that didn’t work”.

    • Yep. I seem to remember ‘maximizing shareholder wealth’ as the goal.

      Dick’s seems to be in the ‘lets destroy our merchandise to signal our virtue’ model. Definitely not what I learned.

    • It is a simple model. Piss off your most valuable customers and then blame them for list sales.

      Big 5 thanks them.

  4. Dick’s has decided which side that their on in the 2nd Amendment debate. I will never set foot in any of their stores and hope that they go out of business.

    • This is what a person needs to do. Also, we need far more people active like yourself and myself to send a powerful hard hitting “we refuse to comply” message to the deceitful two faced hypocritical upper management of Dicks Sporting Goods Store who perpetrate chicken*&^% age discrimination policies against
      young voting age adults through 18 to 20.

  7. It’s got to be the feminists and their “Toxic Masculinity” agenda…

    They are trying to destroy Dick’s everywhere.

  8. Bankruptcy is the solution to Dick’s problems. & f… Stack. He deserves what ever he gets. I think he’d make a good door to door tampon salesman.

    • Charles N. Barnett,

      Nah, the Board of Directors will not fire Dick’s Sporting Goods C.E.O. Instead the Board will probably give him a huge bonus as a reward for his virtue signalling.

      • dicks is doing meh in a red hot economy. If we have another recession at some point, dicks is really going to be hurting.

        At a point, they will get rid of stack. There are plenty of people who founded companies, etc. who were fired.

      • Stack’s family is the major stock holder so until things get worse they will not fire him.
        However, I don’t make my monthly trip to his store to buy stuff either. The next time I shop at Bag O’Dicks will be during their going out of business sale.

      • I can’t figure out how a CEO like Ed Stack never got into shooting
        and hunting. I thought all the rich guys liked shooting, hunting
        and golfing. If he doesn’t play golf, is he going to quit selling
        golf equipment in his stores?

        • Stack’s father started what is now Dick’s as a fishing and hunting store in upstate New York. Also sold surplus stuff. Borrowed money from his grandmother to start when he was a teenager. Nothing like the current owner.

  12. lost me as a customer and I run an educational shooting group.Have spent a lot of $ at Dick’s but stopped when they pulled the non existent ‘assault weapon’ from their store.

  13. Double down on stupid.

    Truth is I’ve never been in a Dick’s and don’t see me every going to one.

  15. I guess I can see removing hunting gear and firearms from a bunch of Dick’s stores, there are lots of other sports they can sell for. But removing them from Field and Stream stores? Are they going to just call them Stream stores? Only sell fishing gear? I don’t get the thought process, but maybe I am just too dumb…

  16. So what’s left at Dick’s that I can’t get anywhere else?
    To pull hunting gear from Field and Stream is to laugh. Changing its name to Stream? Dick’s Stream? Dick Stream? Piss Shop?

  17. Yeah, I most certainly will NOT be purchasing ANY sports equipment from Dick’s or from Field and Stream stores.

    How does alienating about 1/3 of the populace improve your business position? And yes, Dick’s and Field and Stream are alienating about 1/3 of the populace because they not only lost ALL of MY sports business, they lost ALL of the sports business from MY ENTIRE FAMILY.

    Oh, and how can a Field and Stream store maintain the word “Field” in their name if they do not sell firearms? (The word “Field” in their name refers to small game and upland bird hunting which is nigh impossible without firearms.)

    • “How does alienating about 1/3 of the populace improve your business position?”

      Dude, you’ve got it all wrong. Everyone knows that only 1/10 of 1% of gun owners are buying 90% of the guns, right? And far fewer households own guns than ever before, they keep telling us. So they’ve only alienated about seventy people in the entire country, by their reckoning.

      On the other hand, by virtue signalling, they’ve increased their business by the millions of twitter hipsters who… have never been in the woods or played a sport in their lives, and their idea of an adventure is going to Starbucks…

      Yep, what we’re watching here is corporate suicide in slow motion. The phrase is “get Woke, go broke”.

    • I worked briefly for Dick’s (18 months). They make 80 percent of their profits from apparel. Team Sports ( Baseball, Basketball, Football…) and Golf round it out. Believe it or not, Dick’s makes very little money on Firearms, Hunting and Fishing. The markup on guns is 10 percent plus or minus. Stack has wanted to get out of the business for while, he’s just doing it now to look good to the fat soccer moms that want expensive yoga pants. Hated working there, but a job is a job and I was able to work in the “lodge”. BTW, while working there I bought guns at LGS at better prices.

      • b72512ga,

        Even though the profit margin on firearms isn’t as high as apparel, Dick’s Sporting Goods is missing something REALLY important: their firearm’s and hunting supplies brought my family and me into their stores and then my family or I would purchase other stuff in their stores, including apparel.

        Now they have lost my entire family’s purchases of apparel in their stores.

  18. When Dick’s initially made the move to take an anti-Second Amendment stance, I wrote in this forum that I’d never return to Dick’s for anything. I’ve upheld my promise; have found in all cases alternatives to any product or service needed. So, there’s a bit of self-satisfaction in being a contributor to Dick’s financial decline. May the decline continue!

  19. Went in one of their stores 2 times. prior to their anti-gun stance. Both time very disappointed, never needed to go back, they don’t have anything I can’t get other places better, faster, or cheaper. I hope they survive, as I worry about the people employed there. The CEO/COO/ Board of Directors can go fornicate themselves…

  20. So what exactly is the “Field” for Field and Stream supposed to be then? Good thing I’ve refused to shop at both establishments for about 15 years now…

  23. Many years ago when they opened a new Dick’s near me, I stopped in to check out ammo prices. Picked up some 00 Buck for home defense but the girl at the checkout wanted to see my Driver’s License. I told her gray beard & hair was enough to prove I was old enough but she said she knew I was old enough… she had to put my DL number in the customer database “Just in case”.
    I left the ammo on the counter & left & I will never step foot in a Dick’s again.

  25. At this point I just buy local unless I visit family then I will hit up the cabellas nearby. I probably should do some exploring in New Hampshire and look into the occasional no tax big purchases

  26. My grandson gets ads from dick in the mail. I toss them out …… no need for him to see that trash!!

    • That’s funny. I throw away those also, along with my wife’s junk mail asking her to vote for Democrats come election time.

  28. Yeah. Virtue signaling gets a few handclaps from the leftist elite but does not bring in business.

    I guess potential customers are waiting for Occasional-Cortex’s socialist utopia where they get stuff for free.

    Buh Bye Dicks

    • They actually will sell a lot of Under Armor. Recall they went anti 2A when they abandon hunters 2 years ago. Ok, so who’s next after Benchmade?

  32. Get Woke Go Broke

    Let see if we can help them to do just that. I refuse to shop there and stopped more than 5 years ago.

    • REALLY?!? Cabela’s/Bass Pro are running a 2ND AMENDMENT SALE right now. Dumbest thing I’ve seen today-so far😩

  39. Not sure of their financial situation, but a new Dicks is under construction at this moment in Richland, WA. Odd that they would build a new building in the local mall parking lot, next to a closed/out of business Toys R Us building.

  40. For quite some time after Dick’s stopped selling AR-15’s, they still sold the Remmington 870 Tactical Express shotgun and 00 buck ammo, both used by Aron Alexis in the Navy Yard shooting. Always seemed a little hypocritical to me.

  41. “Dick’s Sporting Goods Taking Guns, Hunting Gear Out Of 125 Stores”

    Well, guess that’s only fair seeing as how I took myself out of all Dick’s stores some time ago.

  42. Doubling down on their plan to sell sports equipment to the soy latte crowd, I see. Good luck with that.

  43. They already alienated the 2A crowd, so I’m guessing this development probably isn’t going to have much of an impact on their sales. I can honestly say I’ve never spent a dime there even before they AR15 stunt. I’d much rather shop at Sportsman’s Warehouse or a local shop.

  45. I don’t shop at Dicks anymore anyway. If the go under, gun respecting, hunting respecting OUTDOORS stores will most certainly pick up the empty sack, oops, slack!!

  46. Who knows how they will do seemingly having given up on firearms sales, if I understand correctly. I was never a big patron of that firm, and certainly aren’t going to become one now. Let’s see how gun owners and others react.

    • I don’t know how they’ll do over the longer term but I suspect it’s not well without major corrective action in the future.

      Dick’s main selling point was that it was, essentially, a department store for active people. Guns, fishing, sports, outdoor clothes and fitness equipment and shoes all in one place. Now they’ve gone to just sports, fitness and outdoor clothes when there are other companies in those niches and covering those niches better than Dick’s can ever hope to. You can’t really run a department store by closing most of your departments.

      Cheapo gym memberships mean that a lot of people don’t want expensive workout machines in their house. A company like REI sells all the same outdoor clothing brands as Dick’s, with a wider selection within those brands, does so at a generally cheaper price and gives you 10% back at the end of the year. Plus REI sells a bunch of brands you can’t get at Dick’s that are, arguably, better than what you can get at Dick’s for the most part. If you really want that Patagonia sweater then maybe you go to Dick’s. If you want to comparison shop it against Arc’Teryx, Prana, Kuhl, Marmot and half a dozen other respectable outdoor brands… REI.

      That leaves Dick’s heavily reliant on shoes, sports equipment and athletic clothing. The clothing is often mostly UA which already has it’s own problems with hunters and other freedom minded people as well as people who just think it’s overpriced compared to say…Russel or Puma. So we’re down to shoes and sports equipment both niches are filled by other specialty stores that often do a better job at better prices.

      They’ve lost their edge, which was convenience, and in the process ticked off a whole heap of people who were customers.

  47. They’re pulling guns out because no self respecting gun owner will set foot in their stores anymore, so they can’t sell what they already have on stock. But really . . . pulling hunting supplies from Field and Stream stores? How incredibly stupid are they?

  48. I would like to see the list of locations where they are pulling their hunting gear such as it is. My guess is that these stores are in urban areas where doing outdoor stuff means going to the beach.

  49. I believe the reason they’re pulling guns is because the boycott is working. After all, why have guns taking up shelf space if they’re not moving. A couple of years ago Dick’s stock was as high as 62 dollars, today it’s about 34. I’m so glad I didn’t buy any.

  50. They are dead to me. I’ll pay more at cabelas for what I need. Cabelas give me 5 percent off as a vet, something Prick’s never did.

  51. This morning I saw on a financial blog that their stock had dropped another 10% in value. Everyone and their brother sells UnderArmour and the other clothing brands. Why would anyone want to buy that stuff at Dicks? Why would anyone want to buy that overpriced clothing at all?

  52. When Dicks shutters it’s doors for good,I will pull a cork in celebration,Anti 2 nd. amendment Dicks.

  53. Good riddance to them, I’m enjoying watching them circle the drain.

    Has anyone seen a list of the store locations ditching guns?

  54. Get woke, go broke.

    And that leaves aside their Soviet quality of customer “service”.

  55. Dick’s Sporting Goods is simply doing what Libertarians have been advocating for decades. The right to commit suicide.

    And just like people who commit suicide, they will take others with them. So will Dick’s Sporting Goods as thousands of employees lose their jobs. And investors losing their Investments. However the president of the company will still get paid.

    Does anybody know if the people now running Dick’s Sporting Goods are vegetarians? Is that what motivates them to be against eating wild animals or fishing?

  57. Is the guys name that runs Dicks Sporting Goods name actually Dick? If so the name does kind of suit him. Most of the time we have choices. My son plays baseball, football, basketball, he’s in Boy Scouts, He shoots Bow, HE LOVES TO SHOOT FIREARMS SAFELY WITH HIS DAD. We simply choose to never spend one more penny in that store ever again. I liked Academy better anyway

  58. Every sporting goods chain around here that eliminated firearms and accessories went out of business not too long afterwords. Trying to be PC never worked for them. I doubt it will be any different for the Dicks around here either. I am already scratching my head how the local one is still in business.

  59. As far as I am concerned, Dick’s may as well stop selling guns in all their stores. I haven’t set foot in any of their stores when they first announced that they would not be selling MSRs in 2013. I called their corporate headquarters and told them that I was also cutting my Dick’s credit and score card up.
    As another poster already said “No self-respecting gun owner should ever do business with them.”

    • “STOP selling guns”? When did they START?

      There have been times that I thought they’d find treasure on Oak Island before I got somebody to help me at Dick’s.

      Who’s their director of customer relations, Lavrenti Beria?

  60. Dick’s? Dick’s who? I forgot all about them after they demonstrated no belief in the 2nd A

  61. I really don’t see what Dick’s Sporting Goods has to worry about. Several companies have stopped selling firearms, ammunition, and related sporting goods after many years of doing so, and haven’t suffered any consequences.

    I mean, how about Sears? And Montgomery Wards? And JC Penney? Aren’t those all thriving businesses known for constantly opening new stores everywhere?

    /snort.

  63. The local Dick’s stopped staffing the gun section some time ago. Dick’s will make enough ripping off customers on their sports equipment and sportswear. Dick’s is the only game in town for sports equipment in my area.

    • No Big 5, (West), no Adademy (East), no Wal-Mart?

      Dicks is 75% Clothing, 20% Golf, and 5% sporting goods. Other than Golf, my local Walmart has a better sporting goods selection.

  64. JC Penny’s, Sears, did the same thing only quietly, of course they are belly up, Good by Dicks I will find a better high priced junk dealer,

  67. First time I ever went into a Dicks (10+ years ago) I thought. It’s a 2-story Sports Authority. Lots of “workout” clothes, and very little actual sporting goods.

    Hey… I wonder how Sports Authority is doing these days…

    Oh yeah, they aren’t.

    Once Soccer Mom Staci knows what size yoga pants she wears, she buys from Amazon. Actual sporting gear? Tennis Racquets, Sports Balls, Bats? Big 5 and Walmart have a better selection and better prices.

  68. Late post:. Looks their stock price. $39 before, $35 now. Great decision. Since going anti-2nd, from $64….

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