Dick’s sporting goods, Keitech, and Googan

[Heron]

The Dicks in my area both simultaneously surprises, and confused me

 

Theyve always had a reliable stock of Keitech baits...

 

until now...

 

today im surprised to find the keitech products barely occupy a half of an endcap.

 

However, they have devoted a whole aisle to Googan baits.  All and Everything Googan.  Everything from baits to bumper stickers.

 

This direction confuses me, for Dicks to dive in so head-first deep into one brand name.  Because by comparison, Keitech popularity has been based on reputation for great effectiveness.  Googan popularity is mostly based on the creators youtube channels.

 

Doesnt seem like a wise direction for Dicks.   But what do I know

[Heron]

Honesty....

All other brands that have a long established history, have only fractional shelf space at this store.  Taking a back seat to Googan

[ABurk]

It probably wasn’t just some arbitrary decision. Probably based on sales. Don’t think it’s hurting Dicks any. Surprised this thread isn’t locked already lol. 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Don't think it has much to do with sales.  Keitech is still behind production wise, they are having issues supplying retailers.

[ABurk]

5 minutes ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

Don't think it has much to do with sales.  Keitech is still behind production wise, they are having issues supplying retailers.

Oh definitely. I hope I wasn’t implying that googan is outselling anyone, just that they still sell a lot of googan gear and they aren’t just shoving it in place to take over someone else. 

[Heron]

3 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

Don't think it has much to do with sales.  Keitech is still behind production wise, they are having issues supplying retailers.

This makes more sense than anything.  I tend to forget about the many supply issues our economy is facing these days.

 

Still surprising though that, not just Keitech, but all other soft plastics  brands in this store occupy only a small fraction of an aisle.

 

 

[WRB]

Simple choices support the  original product or Chinese made knock off.

Tom

[Ratherbfishing]

The local Dicks/Field & Stream has a "plethora" of Keitech baits in quite a few colors and sizes.  It's one of the few products which seems to come in regularly.  And, unfortunately, there is an entire shelf of Googan..."product."  Would much rather see the latter product replaced with other stock.

[ABurk]

1 hour ago, Ratherbfishing said:

The local Dicks/Field & Stream has a "plethora" of Keitech baits in quite a few colors and sizes.  It's one of the few products which seems to come in regularly.  And, unfortunately, there is an entire shelf of Googan..."product."  Would much rather see the latter product replaced with other stock.

Having a plethora of options is never a bad thing in my book for reasons that we all have to deal with during these times. I don’t gripe with any bait brands, but I try to steer away from Dicks because they tend to be more expensive than anywhere else. My biggest issue is finding weights when I need them on the fly and don’t want to wait for shipping 

[NorthernBasser]

Dick's blows. I'd have more luck shopping at a Goodwill than I would at any of my local Dick's. 

[Born 2 fish]

The dicks by my house completely stopped selling fishing equipment.

[Spankey]

3 hours ago, Born 2 fish said:

The dicks by my house completely stopped selling fishing equipment.

I’ve never been a fan of DICK’S. Never will. They have that store named perfectly. 

[InfantryMP]

3 hours ago, Born 2 fish said:

The dicks by my house completely stopped selling fishing equipment.

This is the same for me. There is a DSG about 45 minutes away from me, and there is nothing for fishing.  Luckily Cabelas is across the street.

[Kenny Yi]

calling it now, this topic will last 12 more hours...

[the reel ess]

Our local Dick's seems to have a purchaser who doesn't know what fish we have in the area. And they seem to jump all over whatever new gimmick bait comes along, like the bat and spider lures. But it's beside Ulta, so I always make a stop in there when the wife or daughter go in there. Though they are  bit clueless as far as their normal stock, there's always a good bit of stuff on clearance. They also take half of the fishing area away for hunting season, so they have to put stuff on clearance.

8 hours ago, NorthernBasser said:

Dick's blows. I'd have more luck shopping at a Goodwill than I would at any of my local Dick's. 

And pawn shops.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

The Googans rattlin ned is my favorite ned style bait out of the 15 or so styles Ive tried.

[Brett's_daddy]

I have nothing against Googan baits but it is a shame to see Dick's dedicate so much floor space towards one brand. I mean Z-man and Gary Yamamoto share half an aisle, same as Zoom and Strike King etc. while Googan gets a whole aisle and a couple of end caps...does seem to be a bit excessive.

[J Francho]

Pretty sure that space came at a premium and there is probably a buyback part of that deal.  I don't think DSG is as dumb as some of you think they are.

[ajschn06]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

Pretty sure that space came at a premium and there is probably a buyback part of that deal.  I don't think DSG is as dumb as some of you think they are.

 

Dick's isn't in the business of selling to the hardcore fisherman.  If someone walks in to buy fishing gear that actually knows the difference between Keitech and Googan, you aren't their target market...

[GetFishorDieTryin]

They opened a new DSG right across the street from the old location.  Initially I was really surprised they had a full stocks of brands that they didn't carry the previous location.  Eventually the stocks got low and they never restocked any of the better brands or products like Owner, MB, Jackall and so on.   

[BustedSwimbait]

My local DSG has done the same. It went from a Googan endcap to a whole isle with not just baits, but stickers/keychains/random junk that shouldn't be in the fishing section. I use their bandito bug, but that's it. Shame to see Keitech lose some of that real estate.

[J Francho]

2 hours ago, ajschn06 said:

 

Dick's isn't in the business of selling to the hardcore fisherman.  If someone walks in to buy fishing gear that actually knows the difference between Keitech and Googan, you aren't their target market...

I'm not sure the relevance to my statement, but yes I agree they aren't in the business of marketing to hardcore anglers.  From what I can tell, they are a clothing/image store for suburbanites.

[roadwarrior]

You might think the Southeast would be a prime market for fishing tackle, but our

Dick's here in Memphis has closed the department. No guns or ammo either.

 

[Spankey]

6 hours ago, Kenny Yi said:

calling it now, this topic will last 12 more hours...

You are probably right, but it’s a real shame. I like hear the results good or bad on the Googan baits. As well as any

other manufacturer. 
 

I’ve had my few posts hacked and deleted by mentioning a few good things about them. I’m not a big fan of them but their crankbaits run good and I have a few patterns that catch fish. I’m about the bait, quality and the pattern. Not who’s name is on the box. The name on the box has nothing to do as to why I bought it. 
 

I don’t care what goes on in the big box stores. Corporate buyers that do not fish most likely. Heck some of you guys don’t remember this but at one time BPS use to be full line dealers of many manufacturers. Now they only want to put any effort in their house brands. You’d be pretty hard pressed to go there  and find a decent selection of Rat-L-Traps. Oh well. 

[webertime]

FYI Googan baits is owned by Favorite.