DING DING
You need a new pair of shoes
The first place you think of is:
Dick's Sporting Goods is located at 5205 W War Memorial Drive, Peoria IL 61615. It has been the staple for Grand Prairie Mall for many years now. The classic brick and solid fixtures have always been a staple for a Dick's Sporting Goods location. However, with the rise of online shopping, Dick's may have a chance to be next in line to go out of business.
Dick's Sporting Goods was founded in 1948 by Dick Stack (hence the store name). As an 18-year-old, Dick was working at an Army surplus store. One day, the store owner wanted Dick to come up with a list of products needed to get into the fishing business because of Dick's passion for fishing. Dick presented his ideas to the owner, only to be told he was a dumb kid and had no idea what he was doing. Dick became upset and quit his job. However, Dick's grandmother decided to give him $300 from her cookie jar that held her life savings to build a store himself. Dick built a bait-and-tackle shop in Binghamton, New York and expanded his business into the product line that you can find today at a local Dick's Sporting Goods.
Today, Dick's Sporting Goods is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA with over 720 locations across the United States (As of May 1, 2019). It is a leading sporting goods retailer offering an assortment of apparel, footwear, sports equipment, and accessories. The company particularly targets inspiring athletes and outdoor enthusiasts to achieve their personal best through dedicated employees, in-store services, and unique specialty shops dedicated to a refreshing in-store experience.
While Dick's has been quite successful, it also has a chance to run out of business like other brick and mortar stores. We will look in-depth at three different points that may cause Dick's to close down.
Gun Policy
Dick's is one of the country's largest seller of guns as most are sold by small independent retailers. The current CEA (Ed Stack) decided to change its gun policy after the Parkland shooting which happened in Pennsylvania (hometown). Currently, Dick's does not sell assault-style or military-style rifles and stopped selling any firearms to people under 21. The company lost roughly $250 million from this decision. In addition to lost money, the company lost many of its loyal consumers as it "pissed off their core firearm customer base" according to an instructor at a gun range. Dick's sporting goods targets many of these outdoor enthusiasts as their core audience, and this new gun policy caused lots of that audience to distance themselves from Dick's. This policy ultimately will cause their entire hunting business to suffer greatly, one of their core businesses that have made Dick's the company it is today.
Dick's has an initiative called "Sports Matter: Help Save Youth Sports" whose mission is to inspire and enable youth participation in sports. Let's take a look at some alarming statistics:
Both of these statistics show alarming facts that will cause youth sports participation to suffer. But why is Dick's so interested in this? It is because that youth sports is one of their core businesses. Dick's makes so much money from youth sports as they are the place that one will go when starting a new sport. The reason Dick's has this initiative is so that one of their core businesses does not suffer, or else they will likely go out of business. Keep in mind that Dick's often has the highest prices of any competitors, showing that they profit an extended amount compared to the average retailer. Ultimately these statistics show a decline in youth sports that will eventually cause Dick's to not be able to profit as much as they need too in the youth sports industry.
Competitors
Dick's Sporting Goods also has many competitors in the sporting goods industry that are very similar. We will evaluate these competitors and how they are doing:
-Sports Authority
Sports Authority was a sports retailer in the United States that was headquartered in Englewood, Colorado. At its peak, Sports Authority operated more than 460 stores in 45 States. Sports Authority was super similar to Dick's Sporting Goods in the merchandise it sold and the target consumer base. Unfortunately, it declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to debt problems in 2016.
-MC Sports
MC Sports was an American retail sporting goods chain that was founded in 1946. They had 75 stores in the Midwest before closing down in 2017. One of their locations was in East Peoria! I went to this place during its going out of business sale, and the merchandise it sold was extremely similar to Dick's Sporting Goods.
Outlook
Dick's Sporting Goods is a consumer favorite for buying apparel geared towards the athletic athlete. However, the change in gun policy, a wailing sports industry, and similar competitors shutting down may all be valid reasons for Dick's Sporting Goods to be next in line to shut down. Dick's currently has many loyal consumers, but loyalty can only go so long in maintaining a business. If Dick's fails to really do something niche in the current market, I can say that it will probably go out in the next five years. :(