Just announcing the removal of firearms from 125 stores, Dick’s Sporting Goods continues to pursue anti-gun policies that have drawn criticism from customers and employees.
In August, the store will begin to remove hunting gear from the stories, said its CEO Edward W. Stack, who blamed poor sales as the cause.
Stack, whose father founded the company, has taken an anti-gun position. And, the use of his political views to dictate the company’s business has resulted in people turning against Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Since then, Dick’s revenue dropped 2 percent in 2018 to $8.4 billion—which Stack says is due to less firearm sales.
In early March, the company “posted another quarter of falling profit, sales and same-store sales.”
Could that be because the company has alienated its customer base of law-abiding gun owners who value their Second Amendment freedoms? Could some previous customers be boycotting the store?
“I’ll never shop there again. They’ll never get another dime from me,” said Jody Salerno, of Elite Firearms & Training, near Pittsburgh.
One 20-year-old man, who enjoyed talking to customers about hunting and fishing, not only walked away from his job at Dick's but is boycotting the store and refusing to buy anything there.
He is numbered among several employees who quit working for Dick’s Sporting Goods due to its recent alignment of the CEO’s political view with business. In December, 62 people turned in their notice and quit work at Dick's due to its policy to ban some firearms and raise the gun-buying age to 21.
Last year, Dick’s was expelled in a unanimous vote by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) —the trade association for the firearms industry—for “conduct detrimental” to the NSSF.
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