Pittsburgh — Dick’s Sporting Goods plans to open as many as “75 to 100” new House of Sport stores over the next 5 years, according to Lauren Hobart, CEO of the Pittsburgh-based retailer.
House of Sport is a retail concept that provides interaction and experiences including putting greens, rock walls, batting cages and turf baseball fields, along with sports-related apparel and equipment for sale. There are currently three House of Sports stores in Rochester, N.Y.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Minnetonka, Minn.
“House of Sport will be a significant part of our future growth story,” says Hobart. “Over the next 2 years, we plan to open around 20 additional locations, including downtown Boston and our two hometowns of Pittsburgh and Binghamton, N.Y.”
Dick’s recently announced its decision to exit its Field & Stream brand, which focused on outdoor sports such as fishing and hunting. As a result, the company closed 12 of the remaining 17 stores during its fiscal fourth quarter. Eight of those 12 stores will be converted to House of Sport, and the other four will operate as expanded Dick’s Sporting Goods locations.
The earnings report and investment call come on the heels of Dick’s announcing its pending acquisition of Moosejaw, an outdoor goods retailer based in Madison Heights, Mich. Dick’s purchased the brand, which operates brick-and-mortar locations primarily in the Midwest, from Walmart.
Founded in 1948 with a store in Binghamton, Dick’s Sporting Goods now operates more than 850 Dick’s Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy, Public Lands, Going Going Gone!, House of Sport and Warehouse Sale stores. The retailer also owns and operates Golf Galaxy Performance Center, as well as GameChanger, a youth sports mobile app for scheduling, communications, live scorekeeping and video streaming. The Moosejaw acquisition is expected to close soon.
— John Nelson
SOURCE: www.REBusinessOnline.com