Springfield Armory Cuts off Dick's Sporting Goods

toivo said:

It's one thing to decide, for whatever reason, that you don't want to be in the gun business any more. It's another thing to start to work actively against gun rights. That's a big "eff you" to your former firearms customers. They're practically begging for a boycott. They might think that they'll attract enough anti-gun clientele to make up for it, but I personally think that that's a mistake in the long run. There are a lot of other places to buy yoga pants and tennis balls.

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You're right, but there are lots of gun stores. Why buy one at a yoga pants store?

SamT1 said:

I’ve found a lot of the time the local shops can sell for the same as online they may just be out of touch. If they have something I want and it’s higher than online they will usually match what the delivered and transferred fee price would be and that’s awesome.

The shop I’ve been having do transfers could care less. They charge me $15 and never gripe. Last time I was in for a transfer I bought 2 other guns from them while I was waiting for them to find my online purchase in the back.

I work in a very competitive sales market. We have lots of “brick and mortar” it’s cheaper to match the online prices and suffer a bit than miss the sales, when you miss one sale you may not even get a chance on the next.

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You’re very fortunate
My experience has been that I’ve only run across one local shop that sold close to mail order prices.

As for Dicks. In SW Va I know the stores near where I used to live did decent gun sales. In fact they sold the shot gun to the kid that shot up my classroom. That Dicks location is in the same mall that the college had a satellite campus in. After the shooting the mall then instituted a no gun rule. But that’s another tangent.

As for the last comments. I agree, I think Dicks is struggling and think they’re betting that they could get more anti gun customers than they’d lose by making the announcements they’ve made. If the reports are right, they made a bad move and their research was wrong.

Hokie PhD: Exactly.

It seemed to me that by Dick's Appeasement, they must have planned this from a financial perspective.

They must be quite desperate to risk negative publicity.

Ignition Override said:

Hokie PhD: Exactly.

It seemed to me that by Dick's Appeasement, they must have planned this from a financial perspective.

They must be quite desperate to risk negative publicity.

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There’s a theory that any publicity is good especially when it’s free. I don’t fully agree, but I think Dicks thought they’d pick up more anti customers than the Pro 2nd Amendment customer they pissed off. That doesn’t appear to be happening and it could be real bad for them.

What’s ironic is there’s little mention that about 5 years ago they announced they would stop selling ARs. I know that was a factor in my decision not to buy anything from them since they did that. When they opened the Field & Strem in Charlottesville they started arriving ARs, parts and reloading gear. While their prices weren’t great I was willing to give them a chance and thought about buying some stuff there. I’m now glad that I didn’t.

Too bad that Field and Stream host a few of the Deer and Turkey Expos I used to attend.

Even with the free admission I usually get, not sure I'll bother.

RETG said:

Would be nice if ALL manufacturers did the same....
https://www.shootingsportsretailer....ield-armory-severs-ties-dicks-sporting-goods/

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Another two did--MKS Supply and Mossberg. Dick's will probably be out of the firearm business pretty soon anyway whether they want to or not.

Many cut off Dick's:

Industry response was swift after documents filed on April 27 with the Clerk of the House Representatives and Secretary of the Senate surfaced that showed Dick’s Sporting Goods has hired The Glover Park Group to engage in “lobbying related to gun control.” The move came only a few weeks after the big-box retailer made headlines by enacting a chain-wide policy allowing only those 21 and older to purchase firearms, removal of all modern sporting arms and standard-capacity magazines from its 35-store Field & Stream chain and, ultimately, destruction of those guns instead of seeking refunds from distributors or manufacturers.

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- Springfield Armory
- O.F. Mossberg & Sons
- MKS Supply, the exclusive marketer for American-made Hi-Point Firearms and Inland Manufacturing
- National Shooting Sports Foundation

https://www.shootingillustrated.com...tiple-companies-abandon-dicks-sporting-goods/

OK.

I guess I'll forgive Springfield for the Illinois fiasco. I knew I would eventually, so now's as good a day as any.

CoalTrain49 said:

I'm wondering how big box stores like Dicks, Sportsman's Warehouse, Gander Mountain, and Cabelas can stay in business and compete with online retailers.

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Often wondered the same about Cabela's, and the 'even more expensive' Bass Pro. Doesn't seem to be a factor as it's consistently 'take a number and wait to be called' at their firearm counters on the weekends. Appears that a lot of folks who shop there are either 'attracted by some other means', oblivious, or just don't care about price.

Or perhaps ^^ have a lot of points tallied up. Or gift cards.

I purchased a rifle at C a few years back. Clerk brought the 1st rifle out, I didn't like that one. Long & short, he cared not I went through three rifles before I found a keeper, his comment was ''I work by the hour.''

BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Skgreen said:

Often wondered the same about Cabela's, and the 'even more expensive' Bass Pro. Doesn't seem to be a factor as it's consistently 'take a number and wait to be called' at their firearm counters on the weekends. Appears that a lot of folks who shop there are either 'attracted by some other means', oblivious, or just don't care about price.

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My son works at the firearms department of a Field and Stream store. I can tell you for sure the employees were not happy about the AR policy, however he said they honestly did not move very many of them even in the run up to the election. Far and away the majority of sales at their local store is pocket pistols. From what I gather a good percentage of folks are first time buyers who want a gun for protection. My son has said many times people tell him they don't like going to "gun shops" when he suggests local indoor ranges for them to sight in/practice. We all know full well many of those stores arent real inviting to novices or non-regulars. It just is what it is.

After small $200-450 pistols, it's mostly sporting shotguns. Tactical stuff doesn't sell well from what he's told me. I know a number of guys who shop in his store for over/unders as they are cheaper than other stores around here for higher end models by a few hundred bucks. I suspect part of it too is they usually have a couple dozen new Citoris, Silver Pigeons, and nicer Benellis in stock so people can handle and walk out with a respectable BBQ gun. (Not that this is my thing but it IS a big part of local culture around here.)

roscoe said:

SA scrambling to re-establish pro-2A credibility.

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That's exactly what is happening. Were any Springfield Armory products even sold at Dicks?