Dick’s Sporting Goods has announced that the hunting departments in about 440 locations will be removed, though the sections will remain in “stores in more rural areas,” according to the company’s chief executive.
CEO Ed Stack, during an earnings call with analysts Tuesday, said that Dick’s has removed hunting equipment in 135 stores, and plans to remove guns, ammunition and accessories from 440 more stores over the next six months. Stack also said that the company will leave hunting gear in 12% of stores depending on the local market.
“There are stores in more rural areas where hunting is an important part of people’s lives to feed themselves,” Stack said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “They hunt, not just for sport, but they hunt to feed their families. And as we’ve taken a look at that, we think that that’s important to continue to provide that.”
A press release from the company on Tuesday confirmed the news that “approximately” 440 locations will lose their hunting departments at some point “in fiscal 2020,” according to Fox News.
Although the company did not specify what will replace the hunting sections, Dick’s president, Lauren R. Hobart, emphasized their investment in women’s sport and fitness, and Stack noted that the “demand from these other categories,” such as baseball and soccer, “was very high,” compared to the demand for hunting equipment.
He said, “there is a margin rate upside to these other categories, and they're growing where the hunt business is not growing.”
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