Dick's Sporting Goods what are they thinking

[GReb]

There are outlier small shops still thriving. We have one in the Jackson MS area that sells more firearms than anyone in the state. Bass Pro built 10 miles away back around 2005 and this shop doubled in size afterwards. Folks from all over the state travel there to buy guns and hunting equipment. They have a really nice fishing section too

[J Francho]

I was running behind and couldn't get there.  Have to go back out - dang CVS - so maybe tonight.

[Craig P]

I previously though my local DSG (Conventry, Pa) was getting rid of their Fishing Department as it’s been in disarray but when I stopped by this weekend I noticed the fishing section had new stock of Keitechs.  There were a couple guys stocking so I asked them about this. They assured me that they were not getting rid of the fishing department at this location. They did say some locations would be getting rid of that department. So it’s a YMMV situation. Glad to see my local one staying open for those last minute pickups. 

[Michael Moore]

Went over the weekend, everything hunting/gun related gone or on clearance. Got a screaming deal on a gun safe. Talked to employee and he said they are actually using most of the space to expand fishing section, but for DSG to be reasonably priced it needs to go on sale and use Dicks cash otherwise it is always more expensive than just about anywhere else. They do price match though, need to remember that next time I’m there. 

[SeaCrow]

The Dicks in Tupelo,Ms. has such horrible customer service I quit going to it years ago.

[DogBone_384]

I dropped into my local DSG in Hanover, MA.  The fishing department is now three isles and pricier rods are where rifles used to be.  I pressed the HELP button on the counter and the clerk that arrived told me this location is eliminating fishing/firearms due to lack of sales.

 

Hopefully Dedham, Plymouth, and Brockton keep SOME of their fishing gear.  Bass Pro isn't one of my favorites, is over priced, and is 45 minutes from home.  The same goes for my nearest Cabelas (which to me is a Bass Pro in a different color jacket) that's just over an hour away.

[Joe S]

Here in SE Michigan our local DSG has an abysmal fishing section.   The few fishing aisles are half empty all the time and even the stock they do have is stacked up so that you have to sort through to see what they really have.     Besides that they have one clerk in that area that simply lies to sell stuff.    I've called him out on it a few times and he gets angry (oh well the customer he was scamming was thankful).   

 

To be honest, if they fully close the fishing section then there is not much lost in my local DSG. 

[GTN-NY]

I just found out tonight one of Rochester’s four dicks store is moving into a empty Sears store building. This store will be huge. 

[TriStateBassin106]

As a former DSG Employee here in NY what this company is doing is a classic "shoot yourself in the foot situation" as I like to call it, I worked part time in Apparel from 2018 to early 2019 and they were already getting rid of the hunting area. They also moved the fishing area to the back part of the store. 

 

I recently went in there to renew my fishing license and the fishing isle was completely gone. I personally don't see DSG lasting long into the new decade, as some other users said in this thread they did bad business when they took a political stance on the sales of AR-15s. 

 

I really hope we continue to see the rise of Academy & Tackle Warehouse this decade in the fishing market. They know what we as anglers want and always deliver it. 

[LadiMopar]

On 2/13/2020 at 1:07 PM, DogBone_384 said:

I dropped into my local DSG in Hanover, MA.  The fishing department is now three isles and pricier rods are where rifles used to be.  I pressed the HELP button on the counter and the clerk that arrived told me this location is eliminating fishing/firearms due to lack of sales.

 

Hopefully Dedham, Plymouth, and Brockton keep SOME of their fishing gear.  Bass Pro isn't one of my favorites, is over priced, and is 45 minutes from home.  The same goes for my nearest Cabelas (which to me is a Bass Pro in a different color jacket) that's just over an hour away.

 

Since the merger we now affectionately call both locations Bassela's ?

[CrankFate]

This will be terrible, if true. I live near a dicks and it’s the best fishing shop around. It will be a disaster if they eliminated the fishing section.

[Sharon Calci]

Only 100 of the 720 stores are discontinuing fishing. They are only pulling it from the stores that had drastically dropped in sales over the last few years. All of the stores are going to be pulling hunting and guns now that the trial stores (who expanded fishing to replace hunting) had a big increase in sales. I work in lodge for the store with the biggest fishing/tackle dept and I’m shocked at how much product each store is transferring to us because they couldn’t sell it even on clearance! I can’t imagine any location not being able to sell enough tackle, there’s nowhere else to go. 

[J Francho]

14 hours ago, Sharon Calci said:

there’s nowhere else to go

 

[Efishin]

2 hours ago, J Francho said:

 

Hahaha. DSG near me never had anything anyways. 

[boostr]

DSG in Rockaway and Wayne NJ are stocked to the gills with fishing gear. Same for the one in Paramus but smaller scale.

[FishTank]

I have a DSG just down the street from me in Indy and it's positioned close to Eagle Creek (one of the few places to fish in Indy).  A lot of guys use to go there for everything but when they stopped selling the stuff most fisherman buy and started carrying junk, everybody stopped going.  Also they raised their prices higher than most online stores.  

 

I also feel sorry the guys that work there.  I can tell they care but Dicks Inc seems to be their own worst enemy when it comes to selling fishing gear.  My hope is that we get an Academy some place close by. 

[GioFromNJ]

16 hours ago, boostr said:

DSG in Rockaway and Wayne NJ are stocked to the gills with fishing gear. Same for the one in Paramus but smaller scale.

i was just about to say the same thing -- thankfully rockaway has what i need lol 

if you're around this spring/summer hit me up -- i'll sling some hooks w ya. i have a new-to-me boat that i'm going to put on hopatcong a ton this year. 

[boostr]

4 hours ago, GioFromNJ said:

i was just about to say the same thing -- thankfully rockaway has what i need lol 

if you're around this spring/summer hit me up -- i'll sling some hooks w ya. i have a new-to-me boat that i'm going to put on hopatcong a ton this year. 

Hopatcong was pretty good to me last year.

[snake95]

In the Atlanta area at least two stores have been affected.  One eliminated fishing altogether.  The one closest to me reconfigured where the hunting stuff used to be.

 

I liked DSG for fishing, because for me they were close at hand, and in our area had pretty good prices on tackle.  They occasionally had super clearance prices.  However, I see the reconfigured store has jacked up the prices to match more expensive stores.  I always though some guys were nuts saying DSG sold senkos for over $8 a pack.  As of this month, our store’s pricing is now in line with a NY DSG, bass pro, etc.  $9 pack for senkos.

 

 

There is now a real emphasis on Googan baits.  To each their own but that doesn’t excite me any.

 

 

Lots of things aren’t helping DSG’s fishing department, jacking up the prices certainly won’t help.

 

Say whatever you want about Walmart, but hopefully what I’d call “standard” gear: Power Pro, Big Game, KVD 1.5’s, basic rattle traps, trick worms, flukes, and senkos etc will continue to be sold at a competitive price by Walmart.  I hate to think that the average working guys and gals who love to fish will have to pay Bass Pro prices for everyday fishing needs.

[Spankey]

On 2/11/2020 at 6:19 PM, Craig P said:

I previously though my local DSG (Conventry, Pa) was getting rid of their Fishing Department as it’s been in disarray but when I stopped by this weekend I noticed the fishing section had new stock of Keitechs.  There were a couple guys stocking so I asked them about this. They assured me that they were not getting rid of the fishing department at this location. They did say some locations would be getting rid of that department. So it’s a YMMV situation. Glad to see my local one staying open for those last minute pickups. 

Hey guy you and I live pretty close and have more than our share of DICK’S. My big peeve with them revolves around shotshell. My buddies and I shoot a lot of sporting clay during a course of a year. We all reload but buying flats of their Remington Gun Club shells just soured us. I know I have my reasoning but would never discourage anyone to go there. Plenty of other places to by ammo and guns. And I’m a to each his own type of person. 
 

But anyway I recently found out from my trout fishing buddy that the Montgomeryville location is not decreasing but expanding the fishing and water sports sections. That’s a good thing to come out of a stopped gun department. But I was told that over at K o P they are totally doing away with both hunting and fishing. 
 

Drop me a PM if you have a hard time finding something you want. Maybe I have seen it somewhere in person or online. There are a couple of shops that you might not get in that might be worth going to that are local enough. We may even know each other to see from a ramp or two here at home. Good luck this season. 

[Craig P]

3 hours ago, Spankey said:

Hey guy you and I live pretty close and have more than our share of DICK’S. My big peeve with them revolves around shotshell. My buddies and I shoot a lot of sporting clay during a course of a year. We all reload but buying flats of their Remington Gun Club shells just soured us. I know I have my reasoning but would never discourage anyone to go there. Plenty of other places to by ammo and guns. And I’m a to each his own type of person. 
 

But anyway I recently found out from my trout fishing buddy that the Montgomeryville location is not decreasing but expanding the fishing and water sports sections. That’s a good thing to come out of a stopped gun department. But I was told that over at K o P they are totally doing away with both hunting and fishing. 
 

Drop me a PM if you have a hard time finding something you want. Maybe I have seen it somewhere in person or online. There are a couple of shops that you might not get in that might be worth going to that are local enough. We may even know each other to see from a ramp or two here at home. Good luck this season. 

Thank you for the info and wishes. The same to you. A heads up on the KoP one. I have a friend who is part of the management company there. He tells me that Dicks is not changing there.

 

Hopefully see you around. I frequent Blue Marsh and Beltzville. I try to stick to weekdays as crowds are hard to escape in our area. 

[Spankey]

19 hours ago, Craig P said:

Thank you for the info and wishes. The same to you. A heads up on the KoP one. I have a friend who is part of the management company there. He tells me that Dicks is not changing there.

 

Hopefully see you around. I frequent Blue Marsh and Beltzville. I try to stick to weekdays as crowds are hard to escape in our area. 

Thank you guy. Hope you're right about K o P but my last time in there it was not that impressive. More than just DICK'S around anyway. To many other options if you need anything. Hope you hook a 7 lber at Belts

[WhittyPoo]

Popped in the DSG near me yesterday. Hadn’t been there in a while. All their fishing stuff was gone. However, they had a few fishing kayaks on display which I thought was odd. 

[Gazz]

Where I live in Mass they are also expanding the fishing section into where the hunting section used to be. The employee I spoke to said that once the clearance hunting stuff sells the fishing section should almost double in size. There are not really any other tackle shops in the area except for a Cabela’s 30 minutes away so they sell a lot in this area especially for last second needs. I don’t love the store but it’s a good option when I realize I have no more keitechs or D bombs left. 

[Glaucus]

On 1/22/2020 at 3:45 PM, fishballer06 said:

Dicks is headquartered here in Pittsburgh and they're currently in the process of closing up (and clearancing out) their entire fishing and hunting section. My local Dicks up and packed their entire fishing section in one day and sent it over to the local Field and Stream store. They're clearancing out the hunting/guns section before they move whatever is left over to F&S as well. They've been doing that here since New Years. 

 

From what the guys in the hunting section told me, they're going to put something else in all the stores that sells better than the hunting/fishing stuff. All the hunting sections should be gone in our region by spring from what the employees have been told. 

Maybe social media and YouTube and the circle I keep has warped my view of reality, but bass fishing seems as popular as ever.  I can't imagine what else would "sell more" in a sporting goods store that they don't already carry.