Truly disturbing, baffling news from one of the nation’s biggest gun retailers…wait, no it isn’t.
Sales at Dick’s Sporting Goods dropped in the past three months amid backlash against tighter gun-sale restrictions following a mass killing early this year at a Florida high school.
Revenue dipped 4.5 percent to $1.86 billion amid challenges in the company’s hunting business during the quarter through Nov. 3. Sales at stores open at least 12 months – a key metric for the retail industry – fell 6.1 percent compared to the prior year.
Remember when Dick’s head honcho said axing scary black rifles, forsaking gun customers under 21 years old, and funding gun control lobbyists would actually be good for business?
While Chief Executive Officer Edward Stack previously said the firearms policy brought in new customers and sales were reported as flat in August, Dick’s has now warned that “negative reaction” could affect future results.
Bummer. It’s almost as if America’s gun owners (and a good number of companies that make firearms) are only too happy to take their business elsewhere. According to the Wall Street Journal . . .
Sales at existing stores and websites fell 3.9% for the three-month period ended Nov. 3., driven down by weakness in the company’s hunting and electronic departments, executives said in a conference call with analysts yesterday.
So now, with gun buyers and hunters staying away in droves, the galaxy brain who guides Dick’s and Field & Stream stores is experimenting with ditching the hunting gear business altogether.
The jury is still out as to whether Dick’s Sporting Goods will extend a controversial move to clear hunting supplies from its stores, including shotguns, ammunition, cross bows and rifle scopes.
The retailer, which stopped selling assault rifles earlier in the year, in late August said it would also rid 10 Dick’s stores of “virtually all” hunting items. The stores involved were those where hunting sales had fared the most poorly.
“We’ll have to wait and see how the 10-store test does,” CEO Edward Stack said during an earnings call Wednesday.
While announcing the news yesterday, Dick’s CFO tried to blame some of the drop in sales on general softness in the gun business.
“Sales continue to be negatively impacted by double-digit declines in hunt and electronics,” CFO Lee Belitsky said. “Specific to hunt, in addition to the strategic decisions we made regarding firearms earlier this year, the broader industry has decelerated and remains weak, as evidenced by most recent background-check data” for firearms purchases
Never mind that we’re on pace for 2018 to be the third highest year for NICS checks ever.
So with the anti-gun backlash really starting to hurt Dick’s (and their laughable plan to sell smart guns nothing more than half-baked PR pablum), where are you buying all of your hunting gear and guns?