Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Dick's Sporting Goods Is Learning What the Consequences of Going Woke Are
Red State ^ | 11:21 AM on August 23, 2023 | Staff

Posted on 08/24/2023 5:19:59 AM PDT by Red Badger

Go woke, go broke. That's what conservatives say, and unfortunately, sometimes it's just rhetoric that doesn't materialize. Still, there are times when the adage proves true.

Enter Dick's Sporting Goods, the woke outdoor company that has prided itself on inserting itself into various cultural battles. As RedState reported, shareholders were greeted with bad news recently when it was revealed that Dick's saw a 23 percent drop in profit over the last quarter.

That sent the company into a freefall. On August 21st, the stock price was $141. Two days later, it was at $108 (for the up-to-the-minute price, click here). That's a dramatic drop for a well-known retail brand with so many years in the game.

The question is, what led us here? According to Dick's own admission, a sharp rise in retail theft has severely hampered profitability.

While we posted another double-digit EBT margin, our Q2 profitability was short of our expectations due in large part to the impact of elevated inventory shrink, an increasingly serious issue impacting many retailers.

That's more of a symptom than a root cause, though. The sudden onslaught of flash mob robberies and brazen shoplifters didn't just materialize for no reason, and I've got a pretty good idea of how we ended up here.

Dick's has long prided itself on being at the forefront of the push for "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion," which is just a fancy phrase for when a company wastes money paying do-nothings to push far-left policies within the broader culture. It's all about showing that a company is fighting for "justice" and is "giving a voice" to the whinest, most entitled members of its workforce.

Unfortunately for corporations that went down that path, the bill for their activism is now coming due. Nothing is disconnected from the culture, and when Dick's decided to go all-in on being woke, that didn't happen in a vacuum. Rather, the company fed into a far-left behemoth that actively sought to change laws surrounding bail and shoplifting. The result has been anarchy, where criminals can walk into a store, clean out an entire section, and walk out with little fear they will be prosecuted.

This is what happens when corporations decide to insert themselves into the culture wars. For its part, Dick's was at the forefront of banning gun sales following the Parkland shooting, as if doing so would have any impact at all on mass shootings. By 2019, the company had fully invested in a DEI department and made it a centerpiece of its corporate strategy.

The consequences of that have been a 23 percent drop in profitability due to the abuse of policies the company either directly or indirectly supported. So do I feel sorry for Dick's? Not in the least. I think they should continue to enjoy the fruits of their labor to the fullest.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: dei; dicks; dickssportinggoods; gowokegobroke; thert
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-52 next last
To: Red Badger

Are they selling “tuck friendly” jock straps?


21 posted on 08/24/2023 5:50:42 AM PDT by glorgau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
Corporate executives have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of their stock holders. Executives that are intentionally hurting the values of their companies by adopting "woke" policies, that destroy stockholder equity, are acting against their fiduciary duty.

Any executive that can be show to adopt corporate policies that they knew would hurt their valuations, can and should be sued by their stockholders.

Any executive who has made statements such as "I dont care if the stock goes down", in response to backlash from woke policies, can be personally sued by the stockholders for their lost equity.
22 posted on 08/24/2023 5:53:51 AM PDT by MMaschin (The difference between strategy and tactics!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Dicks is learning that erections have consequences.


23 posted on 08/24/2023 5:54:17 AM PDT by Old Yeller
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pepsionice
Dick's has long prided itself on being at the forefront of the push for "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion," which is just a fancy phrase for when a company wastes money paying do-nothings to push far-left policies within the broader culture. It's all about showing that a company is fighting for "justice" and is "giving a voice" to the whinest, most entitled members of its workforce.

There's no reason to support a company that gives us the finger. Same with beer... we still drink beer but NOT Bud Light.

24 posted on 08/24/2023 5:54:57 AM PDT by GOPJ (Hunter Biden’s pet name for his father on his cellphone. It was “Pedo Peter”. Jim Hoft )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Long time boycotter here since they stopped gun and ammo sales. Hope they go down.


25 posted on 08/24/2023 6:01:45 AM PDT by Chauncey Gardiner (Vivamus stultus ignarus mori )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MMaschin

“Corporate executives have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of their stock holders.”

That’s a valid statement - about 40 years ago. Same applies to our congress critters to have a duty to act in the best interests of their constituents, but they don’t. It’s a sign of the times, a sign of our declining culture, a sign of our heading for the sewer much quicker than did the Roman Republic.

Yes, stock holders should sue the execs as well as voters should impeach their reps, but none of this will ever happen.


26 posted on 08/24/2023 6:08:03 AM PDT by redfreedom (Joseph Stalin: "It does not mater how anyone votes, how votes are counted is what matters.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

never shopped there and never will


27 posted on 08/24/2023 6:08:07 AM PDT by BigFreakinToad (Biden whispered "Don't Jump")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: redfreedom

most stockholders are blackrock funds ...


28 posted on 08/24/2023 6:12:00 AM PDT by bankwalker (Repeal the 19th ...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Exactly, overpriced clothing store

Bass Pro, on the other hand, is awesome.

A real outdoor store, they even detuned my compound bow from 65 to 45 lb draw weight, for free, yeah, they have a guy that works the bow shop counter, just had to ask, ince


29 posted on 08/24/2023 6:12:38 AM PDT by baclava
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
Going woke is not merely harmless. It is promoting the decadence that is destroying the USA.
30 posted on 08/24/2023 6:14:51 AM PDT by Savage Beast (Go to see Sound of Freedom. Encourage everyone you know to see it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
"Equity" is shorthand for "from each according to his ability to each according to his need."

Democrat/Communists in America prefer this over Liberty.

31 posted on 08/24/2023 6:15:06 AM PDT by glennaro (Never give up ... never give in ... never surrender ... and enjoy every minute of doing so.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: glennaro

That’s the problem with Communists ......

They do the “from each according to his ability...” part okay, they just never get the “...to each according to his need.” part right......................


32 posted on 08/24/2023 6:16:54 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Remember..... they pulled selling guns and ammo a long time ago.


33 posted on 08/24/2023 6:20:40 AM PDT by wardamneagle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MountainWalker

Any Diving places around you? they will fill your Paintball canisters usually.


34 posted on 08/24/2023 6:22:17 AM PDT by ABN 505 (Right is right if nobody is right, and wrong is wrong if everybody is wrong. ~Archbishop Fulton John)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Good.


35 posted on 08/24/2023 6:25:15 AM PDT by Parley Baer (o)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Haven’t been in a Dick’s since the early 1990’s.

They were an early-entry corporate gun banner.


36 posted on 08/24/2023 6:25:23 AM PDT by Lazamataz (The firearms I own today, are the firearms I will die with. How I die will be up to them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pepsionice

Unemployment is super low, wages are up, and people are spending money like crazy. What recession?


37 posted on 08/24/2023 6:27:35 AM PDT by bigdaddy45
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Lurker

“Back when they virtue signaled out of the gun business they were selling off all their ammo at a loss.”

I haven’t been to Dick’s in many years. I just checked the web-page for the Dick’s near me, however, and was surprised to see that it still stocks rifles and ammunition.


38 posted on 08/24/2023 6:44:31 AM PDT by Labyrinthos
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
Yup, going the way of Sears and K-mart..

Sears did have tools, but people don't fix or do much in the way of mechanical hobbies anymore... They just set about and play with their phones.

39 posted on 08/24/2023 6:44:34 AM PDT by unread (A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left ... ECC. 10:2)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MMaschin
> Corporate executives have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of their stock holders.

But they are, since most of the shares are owned by institutions or investment banks that demand high DEI scores instead of profits, and will dump the holdings of any corporations that don't prioritize ideology over returns.

40 posted on 08/24/2023 6:46:35 AM PDT by SecondAmendment (The history of the present Federal Government is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations ....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-52 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson