How the sporting goods store that stopped selling AR-15s learned they can make more money by not selling any guns: report
One leading sporting goods retailer has been dramatically changing its business model in the wake of America’s mass shooting epidemic.
Under CEO Ed Stack, Dick’s Sporting Goods reacted to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting massacre by no longer selling assault-style weapons, high-capacity magazines and so-called “bump stocks.”
Dicks also stopped firearms to people under the age of twenty-one.
“A number of people have said to me that this had to be a really hard decision. It was not,” Stack told The Washington Post.
“Dick’s, which has seen a national expansion under Stack’s leadership, is one of the biggest players in the nearly $70 billion sporting goods market,” the newspaper noted. “The company’s most recent firearms policies have come at a cost. For the fiscal year ending Feb. 2, same-store sales fell 3.1 percent, according to company earnings. Stack has blamed much of the slump on gun issues. More than 60 employees quit after the Parkland announcement.”
But, Stack is pushing forward and may have success by entirely ending gun sales.
“Last year, Dick’s took all guns out of 10 stores and filled the empty space with products targeted for those markets, such as sports team merchandise. Those 10 stores outperformed the rest of the chain, Stack said. In March, Dick’s said it was taking guns out of 125 stores out of its total fleet of roughly 730,” The Post explained.
Read the full report.