Dick's Says Firearms Restrictions Turned Away Some Customers
March 13 2018 - 2:00PM
Dow Jones News
By Austen Hufford
Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. said its decision to no longer sell
guns to anyone under 21 years old has hurt traffic and retail sales
as the move upset some customers and exacerbated headwinds to its
hunting and gun business.
Last month, after a Parkland, Fla., high-school shooting left 17
people dead, Dick's and Walmart Inc. were among retailers that
announced age restrictions on gun sales.
Tuesday, Dick's said it was surprised by the "outpouring of
support" for its new gun policies but also said that some customers
were choosing to shop elsewhere.
"Some of those customers that buy firearms, buy other things
also," Dick's Chief Executive Edward Stack told analysts on a
conference call. "There are just going to be some people who just
don't shop us anymore for anything."
Under current law, licensed gun dealers can sell a handgun to
someone 21 years old and sell a rifle to someone who is 18.
President Donald Trump initially seemed open to raising the age
limit for rifle sales, but a plan from his administration to reduce
gun violence instead called for funding to train school staffers to
carry guns. The plan also called to create a federal panel to study
age restrictions and other potential changes in laws and to make
recommendations later.
Dick's said it was hurt by weak overall demand for guns, which
impacted both competitors and suppliers. Gun maker Remington
Outdoor Co. is planning to file for bankruptcy protection as early
as next week as it built capacity when gun sales were soaring but
sales dropped after Mr. Trump took office. Earlier this month,
American Outdoor Brands Corp. forecast weak firearm sales for at
least a year, becoming the latest gun maker to report disappointing
quarterly results.
Dick's said its hunting business posted negative
comparable-store sales and expects the challenges to continue this
year, with its new gun policies being an additional burden.
Shares fell 2.5% in midday trading Tuesday as the company
reported a comparable-store sales decline of 2% in its latest
quarter. Analysts polled by Consensus Metrix had expected a 1.2%
decline.
Fourth-quarter revenue rose 7.3% to $2.66 billion, which
included an extra week compared with the same period a year
earlier.
Dick's earned a profit of $116 million, or $1.11 a share,
compared with $90.2 million, or 81 cents a share, in the same
period a year before. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share came
in at $1.22, more than the $1.20 expected from analysts polled by
Thomson Reuters.
Dick's also said it would devote less store space to selling
electronic fitness trackers, as margins and sales continue to fall
in the market for those products.
Write to Austen Hufford at austen.hufford@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 13, 2018 13:45 ET (17:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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