Dick's Sporting Goods

History

In 1948, at the age of 18, Dick Stack worked at an Army/Navy store in his hometown of Binghamton, New York, after World War II. At the owner’s request, "Dick" explored the idea of expanding the product line to include fishing and camping supplies, but the owner rejected Dick's suggestions, stating that Dick “would never make a good merchant.”

When Dick recounted his story later that day, his grandmother advised, “Dick, always follow your dreams,” and gave him $300 from her savings. He rented a storefront and opened the first Dick's as a small "bait & tackle" fishing supply store, on Court Street near Howard Avenue.

In the mid-1950s, the store expanded into the market of general sports merchandise and by the early 1960s, he was able to build and open a new store on the corner of Oliver and Court St., naming it "Dick's Sporting Goods". The store prospered, and Dick eventually opened a second store in Vestal, New York. In the 1970s, the Binghamton store moved next door to an even larger facility. Dick Stack headed the organization until his retirement in 1984.

Dick Stack's son, Edward "Eddie" Stack, succeeded him in the leadership of the company, expanding the two-store business rapidly. Edward W. Stack has served as chairman and chief executive officer of Dick's Sporting Goods since 1984, having started with the company full-time in 1977, and gradually working his way up in a variety of positions, including store clerk, merchandise manager, store manager and president.

In the early 1990s, Dick's began chain operations, opening additional stores across Upstate New York. In 1994, Dick's moved its headquarters from Binghamton, New York to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In January 2016, Dick's launched Team Sports HQ, a platform of services for youth sport leagues. Services offered include software for online registration and team/league websites; custom uniforms and FanWear; and access to donations and sponsorships.

Corporate

The company used the e-tailing Web site dickssportinggoods.com, operated by GSI Commerce under license and e-commerce agreements. Because the e-commerce site was operated under a company separate from Dick's Sporting Goods, the site often carried a wider selection than what is available in the stores with prices occasionally varying. Starting in 2013, the company began using a ship-from-store platform for online orders. This means that the company has a detailed inventory for every store, and pulls new and used inventory from a local store to fulfill online orders to reduce shipping costs. As of March 2009, customers may return items purchased from the Web site.

Sponsorship

The company sponsors a number of sporting events, including:

Professional sports teams sponsored by Dick's include the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche, and the Colorado Rapids of the MLS.

Dick's has also sponsored SportsMatter.com, a crowdfunding site to help support underfunded youth sports leagues.

Lawsuits and legal proceedings

Acquisitions and expansion

Dick's Sporting Goods opened in Florida and California in 1997. Seven years later, the chain acquired the entirety of Galyan's, an Indiana-based sporting chain. They also acquired Golf Galaxy and Chick's in 2007.

Plans were announced in 2010 to open its first store in Washington state (Puyallup) "with six more locations [in Oregon] 'coming soon.'" Oklahoma (Broken Arrow) and Idaho (Pocatello) followed in 2011, then New Mexico (Albuquerque) in 2012.

On August 16, 2013, Dick's Sporting Goods opened its first Field & Stream Shop in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania at the site of the former Dick's location in Cranberry (Dick's had moved to a newer location nearby in 2012), operating as a competitor to Cabela's. Willie Robertson of the reality television series Duck Dynasty made a speaking appearance at a wedding at the store, with both participants dressed in camouflage, as well as retired WWE wrestler Shawn Michaels (currently hosting MacMillan River Adventures on the Outdoor Channel) appearing at the store to sign autographs for the grand opening. Later in the month, the store began selling AR-15 semi-automatic rifles, ending the chain's 2012 self-imposed suspension of sales of certain semi-automatic firearms following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Dick's has plans to open at least two more Field & Stream Shop locations in Erie, Pennsylvania (on the site of a proposed Cabela's store that Dick's had purchased before Cabela's had a chance to buy it) and Crescent Springs, Kentucky. Dick's had bought the retail-related intellectual property rights to the Field & Stream name from the magazine's owner Bonnier Corporation in 2012 after having licensed the name for several years before. Bonnier remains owner of the magazine.

On June 30, 2016, Dick's Sporting Goods purchased the intellectual property of now-defunct Sports Authority in an auction. The sale was approved on July 21, 2016.

In August 2016, Dick's purchased San Diego-based Affinity Sports, a sports management technology company. Affinity will expand the scope of the Team Sports HQ platform by offering management technology for large-scale sports organizations and national governing bodies.

Company logo

The apostrophe in the Dick's Sporting Goods logo contains several balls; the most common version includes a golf ball, baseball, soccer ball and basketball, in that order.