RETAILERS: As Dick’s and Walmart add restrictions on gun sales, Katy-based Academy won’t change policy
By the time Dick’s Sporting Goods opened its doors in Katy Wednesday morning, clerks had already pulled the popular AR-15 rifle from its shelves. But there were plenty of other semi-automatic guns and ammunition still available for sale.
In the parking lot, shoppers likewise had mixed reactions to the Dick’s decision to no longer sell assault-style rifles or high-capacity magazines and to require all gun buyers be at least 21 years old.
Steve, a Jersey Village resident who didn’t give his last name for fear of being attacked online, said he had already emailed the company’s chief executive to inform him that he will no longer have his business. The avid golfer and National Rifle Association member said he won’t shop at Dick’s Golf Galaxy stores after Dick’s “knee-jerk” decision.
“I’ll go to any store that appreciates my rights under the Second Amendment,” he said. “This is just a feel-good measure that won’t fix anything.”
But Carla Burton, a mother of four in Cinco Ranch, said she sees too many similarities between her Katy master-planned community and Parkland, Fla., now reeling from the latest school shooting that killed 14 children and three adults. The Detroit transplant said she supports any gun regulation that will help prevent the next mass shooting.
“I’m proud of Dick’s,” she said. “It’s one step closer in the right direction.”
Later, Walmart announced that it, too, would boost the age requirement for buying guns to 21. Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, pulled AR-15s and other semi-automatic rifles off its store shelves three years ago, citing dwindling sales. It attributed its latest policy review to the Florida high school shooting.
Closer to home, Katy-based Academy Sports + Outdoors issued a brief statement of support for a bill to strengthen background checks before gun sales. Academy, the largest sporting goods retailer in the Houston area with 29 stores, did not announce any changes to its gun sales policy.
“We serve a broad base of customers, and outdoor sports, including hunting and shooting sports, are an important tradition and recreational activity for many of our customers and their families,” Academy stated. “We are strongly committed to ensuring the legal, safe and responsible transfer of firearms.”
A spokeswoman did not respond to a request for further comment.
Dick’s CEO Edward Stack told the New York Times that he expected the mixed response to his company’s new policy, which comes on the heels of a reinvigorated national debate over gun regulations led in large part by student survivors of the massacre at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day.
The alleged shooter, Nikolas Cruz, bought a shotgun from a Dick’s store in November. While he used an AR-15 in the school rampage, Stack said his company was compelled to act. Dick’s, which entered the Houston market in 2016, operates 16 local stores across the Dick’s, Field & Stream and Golf Galaxy brands.
“The whole hunting business is an important part of our business, and we know there is going to be backlash on this,” he said. “But we’re willing to accept that. If the kids in Parkland are being brave enough to stand up and do this, we can be brave enough to stand up with them.”
For years, most companies were reluctant to take a stand on hot-button political and cultural issues that could divide consumers and sink profits. But over the past several years, more companies have decided to cross the political chasm, risking alienating some customers to attract others. Recent examples include Apple and Chickfil-A on same-sex marriage, and Hobby Lobby and Target on transgender bathrooms.
“More and more companies are getting on the bandwagon of expressing their political views,” said Utpal Dholakia, a Rice University marketing professor. “It’s becoming more acceptable and less risky for them to take a stand.”
He noted that the Dick’s stance is a moderate one. Dick’s will still sell many other semi-automatic firearms and ammunition.
The moves by Dick’s and Walmart will fuel pressure on Academy to follow suit, Dholakia said. However, he said, it may be more difficult for a locally based company to take a stand on guns given its Texas customers’ more conservative leanings.
Only Bass Pro Shops remains as a major national retailer of AR platform rifles. The Springfield, Mo. based company, which acquired Cabela’s last year, did not immediately return messages Wednesday.
AR-15 rifles will still be available at gun shows and smaller retailers.
Thom Bolsch, owner of Saddle River Range in Conroe, said he expects a slight uptick in business after Dick’s announcement. AR-15 platform rifles make up about 15 to 20 percent of his business. The rest is handguns.
“This is a horrible business move,” he said. “They probably said only X percent of their business is AR rifles and high-capacity magazines, so we can do away with that. But what they don’t get is the Second Amendment people, those who like it and want to protect it, they are very strongly against businesses that don’t feel the same way they feel.”
He sent an email Wednesday to Dick’s saying his family would no longer be buying baseball and other athletic gear there.
Wedbush analyst Christopher Svezia wrote in a research note that he expects Dick’s decision will have limited impact on the business in the long run.
Dick’s stock closed slightly higher on Wednesday, at $32.02 per share.
Danny Clark, owner of Collectors Firearms in Houston, said he’d be shocked if any Texas retailers followed suit.
“My guess is the reason why they discontinued their sales of AR-15s is because they really weren’t selling all that many AR-15s in the first place,” he said, “and they looked at this as a good PR move, which I would say has worked considering how much attention it generated.”
Bolsch said that, whatever calculus went into the Dick’s decision, it failed to consider prevailing attitudes in middle America. When he was discussing it with his managers Wednesday, someone asked where it is based.