Dicks Admits Corporate Gun Control Hurting Business

[MedWheeler]

Ironically, the Dick's closest to me occupies a former Sports Authority location. Walking into it, it's like nothing changed (except for the tiny gun section way in the back.)

Even when I did go in there, the last time of which was before all this hullabaloo, I could never get anyone to the gun counter, anyway. I think I might have bought a box of .45ACP from them once, after buying my first gun in the caliber a few days prior.

 

[berettaprofessor]

Most in the hunting/shooting world wouldn't have batted an eye to changes in what they carry in the gun department

They should. Okay, they stopped selling AR-alikes and some don't think it's a big deal. So has my Walmart. Maybe I shouldn't think it's a big deal, but it's the equivalent of telling me what my buying choices are, so I'll choose to take my buying choices elsewhere. How would we feel if they arbitrarily decided to only offer boxers, not briefs, on the basis that they were worried about male fertility? It's all corporate advocacy, imposing on my choices.

And it's not just the rifles, it's the whole attitude. I saw today that my aforementioned Walmart rearranged its firearm accessories this past week. Gone are the hooks holding everything where I could see it. Now it's all laying haphazardly on shelves that are closely spaced together. Even the stuff in locked cabinets. I couldn't, for the life of me, determine what scopes or scope rings they were selling, nor what holster choices were available, without picking up and putting down every package. I let a store manager know it was not a consumer-friendly move. A new Academy is just down the road a half mile and I've now got one less reason not to stop in Walmart, as if I needed any more.

 

[berettaprofessor]

The idea of buying an actual gun from them... always laughable.

I have in the past. When their prices on what I was looking for were competitive; Marlin 795, Henry 22LR, gun safe, etc. No longer. And yes, I wouldn't set foot in a Dick's right now for anything less than a fire sale. They used to be the only store who carried a brand/style of walking shoe that I found was best for my feet; I've bought countless pairs of them over a decade. Since "The Ban", I've discovered I can buy those exact shoes online anytime I want and have them delivered to my home 3 days later. Cheaper than Dick's carried them, too.

 

[CLP]

Haven't been back there since the first time they sold out.

 

[Sav .250]

They played to the audience and it back-fired on them!

 

[Ks5shooter]

Dick's ,meh ,my time and money is and has always been well spent elsewhere.

 

[PWC]

Someone once said "Never interrupt an enemy when he is making a mistale."

 

[Mastrogiacomo]

Dick's is overrated and overpriced; I see it going the way of Sears. If you turn your back on your customers, don't be surprised when the door slams back in your face....

 

[ATLDave]

They made a bet that the portion of their customer base that likes gun control would reward them and outweigh the loss of the rights-favoring people who would punish them. It's a little like a candidate making a calculation to try to "fire up the base," rather than running towards the middle and trying to attract the broadest array possible.

This doesn't generally work in retail, though, because the people whose enthusiasm you "bought" may make one extra purchase to reward you... but the customers you hacked off will punish you forever.

 

[George P]

They are also betting on making money by carrying only the high-margin products like gym clothes, golf equipment, kids' sports stuff; not guns.

 

[ATLDave]

They are also betting on making money by carrying only the high-margin products like gym clothes, golf equipment, kids' sports stuff; not guns.

You don't have to hire lobbyists in order to shift your product mix. IDGAFig about Dick's deciding to stop carrying any particular guns, or even all guns. They went beyond that. They paid someone to try to have laws passed to take away some of my rights.

 

[Mn Fats]

I didn't think it would hurt business to that degree. I didnt think that many shooters were "in the know". The only thing I knew about Dicks before lurking around here was that I could get just about everything at that store cheaper some place else.

 

[Mastrogiacomo]

Back in the day when Dick's sold guns, I asked to handle one behind the counter. He told me I needed a permit...and I put mine down. I asked to handle it without the lock on it; he said he couldn't remove it. I asked a couple of questions about the model. He looked straight at me, then turned to my father and spoke directly to him answering the question. He did this for every question I asked. My father turned to me each time with an expression that said "why is talking to me if you asked the questions?" If this idiot could have seen my collection, he'd have known what a tremendous ass he really was, and what a big mistake he was making in this theory of his that women don't know guns. Needless to say, when they stopped selling firearms, I knew it wasn't much of a loss. They were overpriced as well....

 

[Deanimator]

"Gee, we have Soviet levels of customer service and then we spit in the faces of our customers, and now we're losing sales? I just don't get it..." - DICK'S

 

[Deanimator]

Dick's is overrated and overpriced; I see it going the way of Sears. If you turn your back on your customers, don't be surprised when the door slams back in your face....

And K-Mart. And here in NE Ohio, they don't even sell handguns.

You know a business is on the wrong track when you get better customer service at Walmart... and the DMV.

 

[George P]

Your Kmart is still open?.....WOW

 

[AlexanderA]

They are also betting on making money by carrying only the high-margin products like gym clothes, golf equipment, kids' sports stuff; not guns.

I think you are on to something here. For business reasons, Dick's may have decided to exit the low-margin gun business. (Just ask our FFL members how hard it is to make money selling guns.) Doing it in a spectacular way, rather than quietly, at least garners them some support among the antigun soccer moms. At least that may have been their thinking.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I figure they will be gone soon. FFL's have an advantage in that they have one of the few things I can't buy online and have shipped to my door (outside of less common cases), but Dick even managed to mess that up.

I may take my kids there to try something on but will then go home and order it online. Haven't been in their store since they started this silliness.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Dicks closed several Colorado stores within months of that decision.

 

[Deanimator]

Your Kmart is still open?.....WOW

The last one of which I was aware closed a few months ago.

 

[Pat Riot]

Good! Now I know I have helped in a worthy cause. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

 

[Jack B.]

Never been to one. Don't need a basket ball or gym shorts.

 

[Aim1]

One of the more hilariously-brazen examples of how bias/views alters coverage and presentation of a story. Titles of story about these same results from two different outlets:

WSJ says: "
Dick’s Says Under Armour, New Gun-Sales Policy Dragged on Results"

https://www.wsj.com/articles/dicks-...un-sales-policy-dragged-on-results-1535565173

Meanwhile, CNN says: "Dick's Sporting Goods' rough quarter had nothing to do with guns"

https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/29/ne...rting-goods-under-armour-nike-guns/index.html

I mean, at some point you just have to laugh.

Good o'l Fake news.


I love how people say Donald Trump created fakenews. No he did not. It's always been there, he was just one of the many who's pointed it out but he's famous enough to get credit for it.

 

[alfsauve]

I spent eight years selling "sporting goods" aka hunting and fishing gear. All that "ball" stuff is athletics. The store I worked in carried it all. It was extremely common to see a family walk in the door and dad head to the "sporting goods" area while mom and the kids bought soccer stuff or other athletics stuff. Dad might spend $10-$20 a visit while mom and the kids would easily drop $100. But without the "sporting goods" area in the store dad would go somewhere else, or dad would stay at home and mom and the kids would go to the mall.

This was a lesson Sears learned with tools. They stopped stocking specialty tools. So people went elsewhere for them AND bought all there other tools elsewhere too.

 

[alfsauve]

ALF's Rule #15

Never by guns at places that sell tennis balls.