No items found.

Dick’s Going All in on ‘House of Sport’ Concept

Share:

Dick’s Sporting Goods, the 75-year-old, full-line chain, which calls footwear, athletic apparel and team sports its priority categories, is making the ‘House of Sport’ experiential format its primary square footage growth driver going forward. Over the next two years, Dick’s will open approximately 20 House of Sport locations, including in downtown Boston, Binghamton, NY, and Pittsburgh. Further, there are expectations that the format may reach 75 to 100 doors across the U.S. over the next five years.

“We’re very, very bullish on House of Sport and what this can do for the athlete experience in our business,” Dick’s Sporting Goods President and CEO Lauren Hobart told analysts.

Since launching House of Sport with three locations in 2021, the retailer says the concept has exceeded its expectations, drove strong engagement with its brand partners, and helped Dick’s deliver higher sales and profitability per square foot and overall.

Also expected this year at Dick’s: Besides adding premium full-service footwear departments to another 100 Dick’s Sporting Goods doors, the retailer will convert its temporary value chain concepts (Warehouse Sale and Going, Going, Gone!) to permanent locations and transform 17 existing Field & Stream stores. Dick’s, which recently announced its acquisition of outdoor retailer Moosejaw, is exiting the Field & Stream banner. Eight of its Field & Stream store conversions will be the House of Sports format, the remainder will be converted to larger-format, traditional Dick’s stores. Also on deck: a next-generation, 50,000-sq.-ft. House of Sport store in South Bend, IN later this year.

After delivering record sales of $3.6 billion and a comparable store sales increase of 5.3 percent in Q4, Dick’s is anticipating stronger H1 comps than H2 this year due to improved inventory availability. Footwear-wise, the retailer is ecstatic about its relationship with Nike that includes how the brand’s connected membership with Dick’s loyalty members has risen to over 1 million.

“Because of that,” Hobart said, “We’re able to get much better insights into our athletes from how they’re shopping, where they’re shopping, and how we can continue to innovate in the partnership.”