add site
services
publishers
database
health videos
toolbar
stats
live show
health store
more stuff
JOIN/LOGIN
| advertise add site services publishers database health videos
| | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (NYSE: DKS) is an authentic full-line sporting goods retailer offering a broad assortment of brand name sporting goods equipment, apparel, and footwear in a specialty store environment. Headquartered in Findlay Township near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dick's has 409 stores in 40 states as of August 1 2009, primarily in the eastern half of the United States. The Company also owns Golf Galaxy, Inc., a multi-channel golf specialty retailer, with 91 stores in 31 states.[1] Founded in 1948 by Richard "Dick" Stack at the age of 18, the chain has expanded enormously since the 1990s, in part through acquisitions, and is now one of the largest in the world.
[edit] HistoryAt the age of 18, Richard Stack had worked at an Army/Navy store in his hometown of Binghamton, New York, after World War II. Military surplus stores were common start-ups in those days. "Dick" had the idea of expanding the product line to include more than just military surplus, but to also sell fishing and camping supplies- for which there was also developing a big demand. He presented his idea to his boss, the owner, but the idea was denigrated by him. He related his disappointment to his family later that night. After hearing his story, his grandmother decided to give him her savings of $300 and instructed him to "follow his dreams" with it. He rented a store-front and opened up the first Dick's as a small "bait & tackle" fishing supply store, on Court Street near Howard Avenue. His store was also called by the then-popular "Army/Navy". In the mid-1950s, the store expanded into the market of general sports merchandise, at the request of Dick's many loyal customers. By the early 1960s, he was able to build and open a new store on the corner of Oliver and Court St. and named it "Dick's Sporting Goods". He had founded the Dick's Sporting Goods Corporation, though he couldn't have known it at the time. The clean and modern, but relatively modest store prospered. Dick had established himself as an honest and fair businessman in the community, and was well-known in the city as an all-around sportsman and a genuinely "nice-guy" with a nice family. His store became a favorite stop for every fisherman, boy scout and high school student on the East Side of Binghamton. Eventually the company opened a second store in Vestal, NY. In the 1970s the Binghamton store moved next door to an even larger facility, where gradually the current Dick's concept evolved. Dick Stack shepherded the family-owned and operated organization until his retirement in 1984. Dick Stacks's son succeeded him in the leadership of the company. It was under Edward "Eddie" Stack that things really took off. Edward W. Stack has served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Large Dick's Sporting Goods since 1984, when Dick Stack retired from the company's then two-store chain. Stack has served the company full-time since 1977 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,[2]. In 1994, responding to the pressures and needs of an expanding corporation, Dick's moved its headquarters from Binghamton, NY to Pittsburgh, PA.[3] Edward has guided the company successfully through its relocation and its IPO to tremendous growth. [edit] SponsorshipThroughout its growth the company has continued an early tradition of supporting numerous sporting events. Dick's name first appeared on the uniforms of a local Little League team on the East Side of Binghamton in the early 1960s. The company has continued to support Little League ever since that time. Today, among the numerous sports they support are major sports and sporting events: U.S. Soccer, Major League Lacrosse and the Pittsburgh Marathon. They are also the name-sake of Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. Since 2006, Dick's has been the sponsor of the Dick's Sporting Goods Open golf tournament held at En-joie Golf Club in Endicott, NY each year. Originally known as The B.C. Open, after the Johnny Hart cartoon strip, the tournament has been a well-known stop on the PGA Tour. It is now a regular stop on the Champion's Tour circuit.  [edit] CorporateThe company's e-tailing website (located at dickssportinggoods.com), is operated by GSI Commerce, Inc. under license and e-commerce agreements. Because the e-commerce website is operated under a company separate from Dick's Sporting Goods, the website often carries a wider selection than what is available in the stores.[citation needed] As of March 2009, customers may now return items purchased from the website. However, customers will only be able to get a Merchandise Credit for what they had paid.[citation needed]. Excluding revenues from Chicks, DKS generated 2007 revenues of $3.8B in fiscal 2008. With the inclusion of Chicks, DKS operates over 450 stores, surpassing The Sports Authority on stores and revenue. [edit] Lawsuits and Legal Proceedings
[edit] Acquisitions
  [edit] CompetitionDick's Sporting Goods major competitor stores include: [edit] References[edit] External links
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |
