Dive Brief:
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Dick's Sporting Goods this month announced the opening of eight new Dick's Sporting Goods stores and two new Field & Stream stores in the first half of September. All told, the new stores will mean some 875 new full time, part-time and temporary jobs, according to a company press release.
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That will bring the total to 711 Dick's Sporting Goods locations and 34 Field & Stream locations across the country, according to the press release.
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Although the sports gear retailer announced something of a pivot this summer, looking to focus more on e-commerce and omnichannel sales, Dick’s executives have also stressed the importance of brick-and-mortar, including to its online sales.
Dive Insight:
Dick’s enjoyed some lift last year after the bankruptcy of rival Sports Authority (which netted Dick’s some new locations as well), but things have been fairly rough this year.
Last month the retailer reported second quarter net sales of $2.2. billion, a nearly 10% increase over the same period last year, but consolidated same-store sales remained nearly flat, increasing just 0.1% and falling well short of the company’s estimates of a 2% to 3% increase.
Wall Street panicked after that report when Chairman and CEO Ed Stack signaled that Dick’s would cut prices to maintain its market share in a fiercely competitive sector. "By design, we will be more promotional and increase our marketing efforts for the remainder of the year, as we will aggressively protect our market share," Stack said in a statement in August.
But Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, described the retailer's performance as "not too bad" in comments emailed to Retail Dive. "[O]verall sales are up nicely, operating income has grown, and net income has increased by almost a quarter." Although he noted that "one fragile figure stands out: comparable sales were virtually flat." This he attributed to the "crowding" of the sector with both specialist and generalist retailers.
Dick’s may be adding to that crowd with its planned store openings, but its executives have stressed the importance of brick-and-mortar even to the retailer's e-commerce sales, noting in the past that digital sales fall in zip codes with shuttered stores.
