Dick's Sporting Goods shakes up leadership team

Dive Brief:

DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc. on Thursday announced a number of executive shakeups, including Chief Operating Officer André Hawaux's plans to retire. Hawaux, who joined the retailer four years ago from ConAgra, will remain with the Company through the second quarter this year, according to a company press release.
Chief Marketing Officer Lauren Hobart has also been appointed president effective immediately, reporting to CEO Edward Stack. Don Germano, who led the company's stores operations from 2010 through 2013, will return on May 30 as SVP of those operations, reporting to Hobart.
Keri Jones will join the Company on May 22 as Chief Merchant, also reporting to Stack. She previously worked at Target in supply chain and merchandising roles, according to her LinkedIn page.

Dive Insight:

The executive shakeup comes as Dick's Sporting Goods soars on turmoil in sporting goods market. The retailer has continued to benefit from last year’s bankruptcy of rival Sports Authority, from which it garnered that retailer’s intellectual property rights and some store leases. It’s likely also benefited from the exit of Golfsmith last year.

In his statement on Thursday, CEO Edward Stack applauded André for his leadership and role in executing the company's strategic plan and said he looks to Lauren to propel growth for the company. "Importantly, Lauren's appointment will further our efforts to drive omni-channel consumer engagement, while creating a more efficient and focused organization," he said.

Dick's good fourth quarter news was tempered by the fact that it’s coming off last year’s not-so-great results, according to GlobalData Retail Managing Director Neil Saunders.

“The various failures and exits from the sports market across 2016 provided a very healthy windfall for Dick’s during the final quarter,” Saunders said in an email to Retail Dive. “Even the weather played ball, with a cold end to the quarter stimulating the sales of outdoor products in a way that last year’s warmer weather failed to do. All that said, there are two points that take some of the edge off the good numbers. The first is that comparatives from last year, especially on a same-store basis, were relatively weak, which contributed to the strong growth. The second is the net income number which fell by 30% thanks to store closure costs, and a write-down of inventory that is misaligned with Dick’s new merchandising strategy.”

The poor fortunes of the competition is not much of a strategy, and Dick's appears to be taking nothing for granted. Saunders did give props to Dick’s omnichannel efforts, which include providing its customers with online fitness tools that go beyond shopping. For example, its Move program allows subscribers to track progress towards health goals and earn Dick’s ScoreCard loyalty points that can be used to make purchases. “This ensures that Dick’s is constantly engaging with its customer base in an appropriate and non-intrusive way,” Saunders notes.