The transformation of Dick’s Sporting Goods into an experiential, omnichannel retailer is well underway, executives say, as consumer demand for athletic gear and apparel remains high.
The company reported on Wednesday (Aug. 25) that its same-store sales are up 19.2 percent through July 31 compared to the same time a year ago. Executives raised their already-optimistic full year guidance even higher as a result of continued sales that are higher than execs expected.
Dick’s expects to open six new stores and eight specialty concept stores in 2021, including the conversion of two former Field & Stream stores into Public Lands stores. The company also expects to relocate 11 stores in 2021.
“We said 2021 was going to be the most transformational year in our history, and so far, it certainly has been,” Executive Chairman Ed Stack said in the company announcement. “We continue to perform at a very high level and invest in our future to reimagine the athlete experience in our core business and with new concepts.”
He added that he is “very pleased with the strength of our business and confident about our growth opportunities.”
Net sales in second quarter of fiscal 2021 for Dick’s were $6.19 billion, a 53 percent increase from the second quarter of 2020 and up 48 percent from the same time two years ago.
Although eCommerce sales dipped 28 percent in the second quarter compared to a year earlier, that was part of a concerted effort by Dick’s to bring more shoppers into their stores to immerse themselves in its increasing focus on experiential shopping. Digital sales were up 111 percent over 2019; overall, eCommerce has grown from 12 percent of net sales for Dick’s in 2019 to 18 percent this year.
Dick’s projects between $11.5 billion and $11.7 billion in net sales for fiscal 2021, up 18 to 20 percent from the prior fiscal year’s total of $9.6 billion and an increased from the range of $10.5 billion to $10.8 billion forecast at the end of the first quarter.
Related: Dick’s Outlines Bold, Experiential Retail Future After Record Q1 Results
Stack told investors during the company’s first-quarter earnings call to expect to see a more hands-on business model going forward as the company leans into building an omnichannel business. “We are reimagining the athlete experience, both across our core business and through new concepts that we have been working on for the past several years, which will collectively propel our growth in the future,” he said.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has named the former director of its Whistleblower Office, Brian Young, as its director of enforcement.
The appointment was announced Friday (Feb. 14) by CFTC Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham, according to a CFTC press release. Young had been serving in an acting capacity since Jan. 22.
“He is a fearless leader that will build an even more impressive enforcement program that will stay true to the CFTC’s mission to protect the American public from fraudsters and scammers,” Pham said in the release. “I am confident that under Brian’s leadership, the CFTC will expand and scale our resources to help more victims than ever before and ensure the integrity of our markets in the name of justice.”
Young joined the CFTC as director of its Whistleblower Office in 2024, according to the release. During his first year in that role, Young oversaw a team that achieved an all-time high number of annual dispositions of whistleblower award applications.
Prior to joining the agency, Young was with the Department of Justice for nearly 20 years, most recently as acting director of litigation for the Antitrust Division, the release said.
Before that, Young served in various roles in the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division, including chief of the Fraud Section’s Litigation Unit, per the release.
While at the Department of Justice, he successfully tried criminal fraud and manipulation cases in the CFTC’s markets, according to the release.
“I want to thank Acting Chairman Pham for her confidence in me and for her commitment to continuing the CFTC’s aggressive efforts to protect our global commodity markets from fraud, manipulation and other abusive practices,” Young said in the release.
The White House said in a Wednesday press release that it sent to the Senate nominations for Brian Quintenz to be chairman of the CFTC and a commissioner of the CFTC for a term expiring April 13, 2029.
Quintenz is a former commissioner of the CFTC and now works for the cryptocurrency unit at venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz, PYMNTS reported Wednesday (Feb. 12).
The commission is expected to gain new powers over the cryptocurrency sector.