DICK’S Admits: Getting Rid Of Guns Hurt Their Bottom Line

Remember when Dick’s Sporting Goods decided to remove “assault-style” weapons from its Field & Stream stores?  After the Parkland shooting left seventeen people dead, the CEO of Dick’s made an announcement that they would stop selling certain guns. The Left applauded this decision, even though this decision would make zero difference in terms of gun violence.

Too many AR-15s are not our problem.  And responsible gun owners know that pretending otherwise ultimately causes more damage than good.  Shockingly, it seems to have hurt them in sales.

According to The Daily Wire, their “stocks tanked more than 4.5% and financial conglomerate J.P. Morgan Chase downgraded Dick’s shares, from ‘overweight’ to ‘neutral:'”

“Gross margin-driven upside appears less probable given 3Q’s performance, changing comparisons, and rising inventory levels,” an analyst for J.P. Morgan told CNBC. The same analyst noted that same-store sales for Dick’s outlets are expected to grow less than 1% even as the company’s inventory rises.

“The analyst pointed out that Dick’s same-store sales growth for 2019 is expected to be less than 1 percent after averaging 2.1 percent between 2011 and 2015. He also noted that while the company’s 25 percent Black Friday store discount will help boost sales, it will not boost margins,” the analyst continued. “Inventory levels, meanwhile, rose 1 percent in the third quarter after falling 5 percent in the first half of 2018 with inventory days estimated to return back to 2015-2017 levels.”

Dick’s says it can trace the downturn not just to an overall retail downturn, but also directly to its decision to take action on “gun control,” banning the sales of “assault-style” rifles at its Field & Stream affiliated retailer and discontinuing any gun sales to people under the age of 21.

It seems their decision caused their customers to go elsewhere for their hunting needs, as sales in that department generally have taken such a serious hit they may discontinue the entire department:

Dick’s has seen a decline in sales of its hunting gear overall — such a decline that they’re considering removing hunting and outdoors equipment from all of their stores in order to boost their bottom line and cull some of their excess inventory.

“Months after Dick’s Sporting Goods made the move to stop selling assault-style rifles, the company is now considering removing all hunting gear,” a Texas ABC affiliate reported on Friday. “Dick’s CEO Edward Stack revealed during a conference call that they removed all hunting gear from 10 stores as a test run.”

Well, it seems that political correctness actually hurts sales, mainly because gun owners are sick of being vilified. In our search for answers for the tragedies that befall us, it’s important not to find an easy but misguided target for our blame.

Hat Tip: The Daily Wire

Image Credit: Mike Mozart on Flickr