Dick’s Sporting Goods to Remove Hunting Items from Over 100 Stores

Dick’s Sporting Goods saw its shares fall on Tuesday despite reporting fourth quarter financial results that beat on both the top and bottom line.

The big drop came after disappointing same-store sales and guidance for 2019. Plus the company revealed that it would be removing hunting items from 125 of its stores.

“Following this success,” Dick’s CEO Ed Stack said on the Q4 earnings call, “we will remove Hunt from approximately 125 additional Dick’s stores in 2019 where the category underperforms.”

It was last year that 10 stores had removed hunting items where they underperformed and the stores then saw positive comp sales in the fourth quarter.

The hunting category is defined by the company as rifles and ammunition, plus “accessories associated with firearms, hunting apparel, anything associated with hunting.”

Company president Lauren Hobart specified however that “it would not include kayaks and other outdoor activities like that.”

The company also decided to remove Reebok from stores and ended a licensing agreement Dick’s had with Reebok.

For 2019, Dick’s is expecting sales to be “relatively flat” in North America, up 3 to 4 percent overall.

Shares have climbed more than 50 percent over the past year.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Dicks Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) and have not been compensated for this article.