Dick's Sporting Goods to open technical outdoor stores in Q3 2021

December 02, 2020, 02:50 PM

Rev. A. J. Forsyth

quote:
Rev AJ,

Do you think the prevalence of online outlets for may make retail more challenging?

I do, but when it comes to that type of clothing or gear, nothing beats trying it on.

December 02, 2020, 03:23 PM

Brett B

quote:
Originally posted by YooperSigs:
So they plan to sell high end, "technical" gear in Ohio? Much needed in the corn field!

Believe it or not, thanks to the strong job market and low cost of living, many Ohioans can actually afford to travel outside of the cornfield now and then.

I mean are people only supposed to buy their clothes/boots/pack/gear for Montana Elk hunts once they actually get to Montana? Don't buy your snowboard/bindings/boots until you actually get to Colorado? So much for breaking in your gear before putting some real miles on it...

I have some high end gear that I have used all over the country and in central America. I didn't buy any of it at Dicks and don't intend to start now even if they open a store with a new name, but it would have been nice to try on more stuff in person. Most I had to buy online and return what didn't fit. Eventually I figured out which brands work for me and have stuck with them since.

December 02, 2020, 03:33 PM

CoolRich59

quote:
Originally posted by corsair:

"... Rich Hill, president of Grassroots Outdoor Alliance. "Outdoor retail is much more than putting a good product on the shelf at a good price. It requires expertise. You need to know how to fit packs, where the local trails are, how to select boots for different people's feet. Developing that expertise is step one. Opening a store should be the very last thing you do, not the first."

This is the reason I suspect they'll fail.

REI is pretty woke too. But, when you go there and talk to their folks, they (usually) know what they're talking about. I stopped going to Dick's even before they sh*t on the firearms community because most of their employees didn't know squat about their gear.

December 02, 2020, 03:43 PM

Russ59

I liken it to a runner shoe store. I find most of the salespeople to be very familiar with brand and type of running shoe. However, if I went to Dick's or Sport Chalet, I wouldn't expend the mouth breather to have a clue about differences or experiences with Saucony, Brooks, Altra, Hoka, Salomon, Asics, etc.

As for REI, I seldom purchase there, but when I do it's because I'm willing to pay extra for quality and expert input (backpack fitting etc).

December 03, 2020, 05:22 AM

Fredward

Wow, you spoke with a Dick's employee? I could never actually find one, and when I did, they were as helpful as Wally World staff.

December 03, 2020, 05:36 AM

C L Wilkins

Dicks

December 03, 2020, 10:27 AM

corsair

quote:
Originally posted by Russ59:... Sport Chalet

There's a reason why they went out of business 5 years ago. They're example #1 of trying to sell all things, to all people.

GI Joe's in the PacNW was another large format retailer who's roots was in the outdoors but, failed to maintain focus with floor staff and vision.

If you get too specialized and inflexible, you end up like Mountain Gear, who announced they're closing up at the end of 2020. An older generation collected REI catalogs, if you're gen-X'er, you had Mountain Gear catalogs, drooling over mountaineering gear and clothing.

December 03, 2020, 11:04 AM

bdylan

The dicks at Dick's will fail like they usually do...might have a profitable quarter or two.

December 03, 2020, 01:16 PM

bigdeal

I'll be going back to shop at Dick's...when they have their 'Going Out Of Business Liquidation Sale'. And even then I probably won't find anything to buy.

December 03, 2020, 03:31 PM

08 Cayenne

Galyan's at Easton was one of my favorite stores ever. I lived close by for a while but would travel the 2 hours after I moved. After Dick's bought it was only a shell of the store it used to be.

quote:
Originally posted by Rev. A. J. Forsyth:
quote:
Originally posted by YooperSigs:
So they plan to sell high end, "technical" gear in Ohio? Much needed in the corn field!

Background is in order for this comment, but you be crazy. This is exactly what the market needs.

I was the firearms manager for a Galyan's store in Ohio many moons ago. I also sold technical clothing there due to my crossover knowledge base. It was nothing for me to sell 20k in Nils clothing in a day around the Holidays. Those snow bunnies need to look fresh! Moss tents were B-Squad. Money flowed from Jewish wallets like Manischewitz. Two year olds got North Face Denali Jackets for Christmas. It was decadent!

I also had days were we would sell 10-15 Beretta 686s. We had the tallest climbing wall in Ohio. MSR and North Face tents sold like wings on Tuesday. What happened you ask? Dick's bought us and brought in all of their Chi-Com bullshit. Am I bitter? You betcha.

This concept will succeed. Why? because there are a shit-ton of really rich people in Dublin, Ohio and Pittsburgh who like the outdoors, travel, and need a better option than REI with their sermons.

December 03, 2020, 03:43 PM

jimb888

I gave up on both Dicks and REI over their anti-gun baloney. They'd have to give it away for free for me to go there.

December 03, 2020, 04:32 PM

cee_Kamp

Dicks was founded in my old hometown.
For many years, It WAS the store for guns & ammo.
I've had many great purchases there. (they had a wonderful used handgun display case at one time many years ago)
Then they stopped selling handguns. (I frequented the store less)
Then they went all PC on "assault rifles" and non hunting style guns. (I stopped shopping there)
Then one evening as I prepared to reload a couple hundred rounds of pistol ammo for a USPSA match the next day, I realized I needed to buy primers.
I called all the Dick's stores in the valley. One store had primers so off I went in the truck to get some primers.
When I got to the store, they didn't have a price/bar code label on the outside of the box, (1000 primers) only on the individual cards. (100 primers)
The young teen aged female sales clerk hit the bar code with the laser scanner and the sales register didn't recognize the bar code on the outside of the 1000 count box.
She pulled out one of the cards of 100 primers and scanned that. The register recognized that bar code.
I explained to the young woman that she was making an error and that price was for 100 primers, not 1000.
She looked at me with a puzzled look and finished the transaction.
Cost of 1000 primers? Yup, you guessed it. 1/10 the price of what a 1000 count brick should have cost.
I took them out to the truck, went back inside and bought every brick on the shelf and checked out at the same register as the first purchase.
I haven't returned to a Dick's store since.

I hope the new venture fails as well as the present Dick's and Field & Stream operations.
They have abandoned the core group of customers that made that Family business formerly successful.

December 03, 2020, 10:18 PM

mesabi

Dicks..... They can go eat a bag of themselves.

December 03, 2020, 10:26 PM

sigmonkey

You will never catch me going into a Dick store.

Let them stick it in their own ass.

December 04, 2020, 11:11 AM

Ronin101

quote:
Originally posted by gw3971:
Sure...they are going to open a new "outdoor store" staffed by the same minimum wage high school kids who don't know anything about anything. Dicks knows nothing about good gear or sporting good for that matter.

agreed. I think ours survives on the uniforms and selling equipment to the schools.

As far as fashion they seem to get the cheaper shoes and athletic wear that have very little fashion incorperated

December 04, 2020, 03:43 PM

fiasconva

I guess they got tired of the long lines waiting to get into the stores.

You know how hard it was to type that without laughing?

December 04, 2020, 07:15 PM

eTripper

Sounds like there new retail-model will appeal to yuppies, and Fudds. I penciled Dick's out several years ago, and have no plans to return.

December 04, 2020, 07:16 PM

eTripper

quote:
Originally posted by eTripper:
Sounds like their new retail-model will appeal to both yuppies, and Fudds. I penciled Dick's out several years ago, and have no current plans to ever return.

December 04, 2020, 07:17 PM

eTripper

Double-tap.

December 04, 2020, 07:18 PM

eTripper

Please delete.