The WSJ article that was the root of the Breitbart story is kind of interesting. Dick’s says “hunting” decline accounts for part of their year-to-year same-store decline. They also blame Under Armor not being as exclusive to them (didnt know they were?).
What’s funny is where the CEO says that the “hunting” stuff was underperforming anyway, and that they’ll change floor space over to more profitable stuff like baseball. The WSJ article doesn’t reflect that he was able to recognize the knock-on effects of Dick’s becoming an advocacy group, and that gun-owners aren’t just not-buying gun stuff from them. I used to buy a decent amount of workout gear there, a little golf stuff, and a fair amount of my daughter’s softball equipment. I bought comparatively little “hunting” stuff there, but I cut off all my purchases when they decided to become an advocacy group. (I had no objection to a decision to stop selling certain guns... I took strong exception to their advocacy of new laws forcing other retailers to do the same.)
Of course, admitting these kind of effects would be tantamount to an admission that the CEO had used his corporate job to advance his personal political views at the expense of millions of dollars of shareholder value. That’s kind of a career-limiting move, so he’s probably keen to avoid that perception.
I never found much if anything that I wanted to purchase there anyway.
