Dick’s Stock Drops — Sales Decline, Plan to Remove Hunting Gear

Last year Dick’s stopped selling ARs and raised the long gun purchase age to 21. Now, in 2019, Dick’s is removing hunting gear from 125 of its stores, 17% of the total.

Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS), a company that has sided with anti-gun forces, is hurting. The DKS stock price dropped 11% yesterday on news that overall sales have declined significantly. Moreover, Dick’s leadership continues to follow a gun-averse path, announcing that hunting gear, including firearms, will be taken out of roughly 125 stores. That’s a major shift in focus for Dick’s. After all, it is estimated that there are over 11.5 million active hunters in the United States. Getting rid of hunting gear in 125 stores alienates a significant part of Dick’s customer base.

In 2018 Dick’s took major steps in response to the gun-control lobby. Dick’s stopped selling AR-platform rifles, and imposed a minimum age of 21 years to purchase ANY and all firearms, not just handguns.

The Shooting Wire provided this report:

Dick’s Sporting Goods to Remove Firearms From 125 More Stores
Continuing to pursue the tightened gun policies that initially drove its stock down, Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) has announced it will remove hunting gear from about 125 stores. The change, expected to begin August 1, will affect about 17 percent of the company’s stores. The announcement, coupled with continuing declines in same-store sales since 2017, is being credited with a nearly 11 percent decline in stock price yesterday. Dick’s closed at $34.45 on the NYSE, down $4.28/share.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Ed Stack, Dick’s CEO and major shareholder, stated that hunting gear (and rifles) may be removed from even more stores (beyond the 125) next year. Notably, Stack is clearly siding with gun-control forces. The Shooting Wire observed: “Stack was one of four CEOs to sign a letter supporting a gun control bill recently passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. He has also joined the business council of Everytown, the [Bloomberg group] that advocates for gun control.”