Dick’s Sporting Goods has decided to continue their removal of hunting and firearm departments in even more stores.
Pittsburgh-based Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. will eliminate hunting gear and firearms from 440 more stores after their decision to do the same in 125 stores last year.
The company has yet to release a list of the specific stores that will be affected, but the remaining 160 or so stores are set to continue selling guns and gear in the hunting category. The announcement came from a quarterly earnings report on the morning of March 10.
As expected, 2nd Amendment advocates and gun rights groups have denounced the decision, many going as far as to boycott shopping at any of the Dick’s Sporting Goods stores as a result.
In 2019, Dick’s sold eight Field & Stream stores, the main part of their outdoor-specific sector, to Sportsman’s Warehouse for $28 million.
The argument for the removal of hunting departments as well as all guns was boosted by Dick’s best quarterly earnings in years, but conflicting reports said the policy caused a “quarter-billion dollar loss.”
Chief Executive of Dick’s, Ed Stack, has gone on record stating that stricter gun control measures are desperately needed, and made the call to stop the “sale of assault-style rifles” in all stores after the Parkland, Florida mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.
The company, which specializes in team sports and athletic equipment, has said it will take a $48.8 million fourth-quarter charge connected to the decision.
Stack has claimed the hunting business as “low-margin” and replaced the eliminated store sections with higher-margin sports apparel.
Dick’s was originally established more than 40 years ago as a bait and tackle shop in Binghamton, New York and eventually expanded to 726 stores across the nation.
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