Dick’s Sporting Goods Is Considering Removing Hunting Gear From Stores

It appears Dick’s Sporting Goods is committed to sucking.

Remember how the company decided to no longer sell “assault-style” weapons, even though it hadn’t sold those “scary” looking weapons in main stores for years?

Many Americans saw right through that little stunt, but Dick’s kept going. It damaged relationships with gun manufactures and even hired gun control lobbyists.

To the surprise of precisely NO ONE, those moves had a significant impact on business.

Those decisions are still hurting business.

Via the Daily Wire:

The sporting goods retailer was forced to confront angry shareholders late last week after its stocks tanked more than 4.5% and financial conglomerate J.P. Morgan Chase downgraded Dick’s shares, saying the company was “overweight.”

“Gross margin-driven upside appears less probable given 3Q’s performance, changing comparisons, and rising inventory levels,” an analyst for J.P. Morgan told CNBC. The same analyst noted that same-store sales for Dick’s outlets are expected to grow less than 1% even as the company’s inventory rises.

“The analyst pointed out that Dick’s same-store sales growth for 2019 is expected to be less than 1 percent after averaging 2.1 percent between 2011 and 2015. He also noted that while the company’s 25 percent Black Friday store discount will help boost sales, it will not boost margins,” the analyst continued. “Inventory levels, meanwhile, rose 1 percent in the third quarter after falling 5 percent in the first half of 2018 with inventory days estimated to return back to 2015-2017 levels.”

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.

Dick’s STILL hasn’t learned its lesson. In fact, it’s doubling down. I’m now seeing reports that Dick’s is considering removing ALL hunting gear from stores.

Dick’s CEO Edward Stack revealed during a conference call that they removed all hunting gear from 10 stores as a test run.

The store replaced its hunting merchandise with a different assortment of baseball, licensed products, and outerwear.

Again, sales declined 4.5% in the last quarter. Do they think this is the answer? This will boost sales? Are they high?

No final decision has been made yet, but yeah. Dick’s is testing this. Just FYI.