Dick’s Sporting Goods
Timothy Judy
The Ohio State University
February 2, 2012
National Brands
With its deep assortment as well as deep varieties of sporting goods, Dick’s Sporting Goods (DSG) has maintained a generous lead in the sporting goods retailing arena. They have been able to do this by offering large varieties of name brand items in every category in the store. Some of the more notable names include Nike, Under Armour, The Northface, and Adidas, and are prominently featured in nearly every corner of the store. These brands account for nearly all of their annual revenue and remain a large reason shoppers gravitate to the store. DSG only sells the most up-to-date sporting apparel and gear for the current year which helps to keep the company a leader in the industry.
I believe this is what sets Dick’s apart from their competitors. By offering the latest and most innovative products from the most well-known sporting goods companies, Dick’s will continue to be known for its quality. Unfortunately, this is also where they may see a slip in revenue. The margins are already smaller on these types of products, but couple that with the point that sporting goods are more recreational or even luxury than necessary, and the point that we are still in the midst of an economic recession and Dick’s is positioned in a precarious spot.
Private Brands (Including Development)
“Another key to Dick’s success is its emphasis on private labels” (Gunther, 2010). The company has developed a number of its own products with suppliers primarily located in China (Gunther, 2010). Dick’s has even licensed certain name brands in order to create specialized, exclusive products but still sell them under a national name brand. A good example of this is how they licensed the Adidas name so they could create their own lines of “Adidas” branded baseball hats and gloves.
The company also likes to buy out dying or declining brands in an attempt to utilize their
Cited: Gunther, Marc. "Retail 's Rising Star." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 20 Apr. 2010. Web. 02 Feb. 2013. Quinn, Gene. "Dick 's Sporting Goods Acquires Maxfli | IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Patent Law." IPWatchdogcom Patents Patent Law Dicks Sporting Goods Acquires Maxfli Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2013. <http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2008/02/20/dicks-sporting-goods-acquires-maxfli/id=121/>.