Dick’s Sporting Goods Facing Store Closures – Anti-Gun Stance Backfires

Fact checked
The CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods has admitted that the company’s anti-gun stance has negatively impacted business to the point where they are considering closing their Field & Stream stores in order to reduce overheads and save the whole business from going under.

The CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods has admitted that the company’s anti-gun stance has negatively impacted business to the point where they are considering closing their Field & Stream stores in order to reduce overheads and save the whole business from going under.

Earlier this year, the sporting goods store submitted to pressure from liberal activist groups and raised their minimum age requirement for firearm purchases from 18 to 21. They also banned the sale of all assault-style weapons in their stores.

Now, after alienating their customer base by attempting to placate big-city liberals who do not even shop in their stores, Dick’s Sporting Goods is teetering on the brink of financial collapse.

Dick’s share price has dropped more than 4 percent since they adopted their anti-gun stance. Store growth has stagnated to the point that CEO Edward Stack has admitted they will likely be closing stores.

Edward Stack speaking at a conference held by Goldman Sachs in September, claimed that he anticipated the negative consequences of the company’s gun ban.

“Well I think it’s definitely a factor, and it’s nothing that we didn’t anticipate,” Stack said of the loss of business. “As we put out kind of our guidance for the year and our earnings guidance for the year, we knew this would happen when—we’ve made some decisions on firearms in the past and we’ve had a pretty good idea of what these consequences were going to be.”

Western Journal reports:

It’s definitely not a good business tactic to intentionally do something that will hurt business. Of course, Stack justified it by saying it’s “the right thing to do.”

“We felt that was absolutely the right thing to do. We would do the same thing again if we had a mulligan, so to speak, to do it again,” Stack said.

Stack can try to spin the company’s decline as some kind of moral crusade but it won’t matter if the company ceases to exist.

Investors don’t want to hear about the company doing “the right thing” if it causes significant losses.

Dick’s anti-gun crusade also soured their relationship with gun vendors.

“So, we’ve had some vendors who’ve decided based on our decision to not sell the assault-style rifle that was used in the Parkland shooting that they wouldn’t sell us any longer,” Stack said. “So, as you know, there’s been some people who said we’re not going to sell you any firearms anymore. We’re not going to sell you our product.”

It seems like the company’s gun ban has turned into a crisis. Both customers and vendors won’t do business with them anymore. It won’t be long until more investors start dropping them as well.

In an attempt to salvage their crumbling company, Dick’s is considering closing down all 35 of their outdoor-focused Field & Stream stores.

“My sense is that we can either take a look at closing that store, that concept, or re-conceptualizing it into a more of an outdoor-type concept,” Stack said.

It’s not surprising that customers want to take their business elsewhere. By taking such an anti-gun stance, law-abiding gun owners feel disrespected. Millions of Americans own guns and Dick’s told them to take their business elsewhere.

Dick’s turned its back on customers and they are paying the price.

Baxter Dmitry

Baxter Dmitry

Baxter Dmitry is a writer at The People's Voice. He covers politics, business and entertainment. Speaking truth to power since he learned to talk, Baxter has travelled in over 80 countries and won arguments in every single one. Live without fear.
Email: baxter@thepeoplesvoice.tv
Baxter Dmitry

4 Comments

  1. What are the odds they chose their name knowing what was coming?????………..can’t make this stuff up.

  2. Fake news. Anyone who bothers to check the transcripts can see for themselves. (They’re on Seeking Alpha.) While the impact of the firearms policy is discussed, there is absolutely no mention of locations closing. There is also no mention of the loss in sales being significant or any kind of insurmountable. Instead, Stack shrugs it off, noting the overall decline in the firearms and hunting industries. Confirmation bias works wonders, huh?

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