One of the largest gun retailers in America is having second thoughts.
Dick’s Sporting Goods, based out of Pennsylvania and home to 850 stores worldwide, is apparently testing the waters about leaving the “hunt” business, according to a new report on CNN. And that business may include all guns.
The retail store already dropped the sale of assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines after the February 2018 Parkland shootings, and raised the age of firearm purchases from 18 to 21. It also destroyed the weapons it was no longer stocking.
In an encouraging sign for the store, replacing hunting gear and guns with other products (including sports paraphernalia) in an initial test of 10 stores resulted in some positive economic feedback; the stores “outperformed the balance of the chain pretty meaningfully,” as CEO Ed Stack told CNN Business, who also noted that guns in general are “an OK business [but] not a great business.”
Further replacement of hunting gear and guns has happened in 125 stores, with results from that move expected to be announced during the release on Thursday of the company’s quarterly results.
Overall, gun sales are down and particularly in chain stores such as Dick’s and Sportsman’s Warehouse — some reasons cited by the financial site 24/7 Wall Street include gun owners already having all the guns they want, the election of an NRA-friendly president in Donald Trump, and the NRA’s own internal turmoil and its decreased advertising. (Sadly, sales after the Parkland shooting “soared” according to the report.)
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