Bharat Bhise expresses his approval of American retail company Dick’s Sporting Goods’ announcement Tuesday that it will pull out guns from an additional 440 stores this 2020. This is a continuation of its efforts stemming from the fatal Parkland, Florida school shooting last 2018.
The statement coincided with its holiday-quarter earnings report, which showed sales going beyond analysts’ expectations and that people patronized the stores for its athletic apparel and footwear. The company is one of the last brick and mortar stores standing in its industry with competitors Sport Chalet and Sports Authority having closed down due to bankruptcy.
On the news, its premarket trading shares rose to over 12%.
Bharat Bhise shares a summary of how the retail store did financially on its fourth-quarter based on a survey of analysts made by Refinitiv:
Same-store sales: Growth of 5.3% (3% was expected)
Revenue: $2.61 billion (expected was $2.57 billion)
Earnings per share: $1.32, adjusted (expected was $1.22)
There were growth in-store sales despite untimely warm weather and the compacted selling season during the holidays. The company looks to balance their optimism with some caution because of the effects of the coronavirus disease.
The sporting goods store made its first bold pronouncement on firearms in February 2018. This follows the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 14 students and three members of the staff where killed.
Bharat Bhise recalls that a little after the Valentine’s Day massacre, Dick’s stopped the sale of guns to minors under 21 years of age and pulled out high capacity magazines from their stores.
After eight months, the business pulled out all guns from 10 locations. It was such a good move that they did the same to 125 more branches. Since that bold move, their entire hunting section has been under review. Bharat Bhise lauds the business decision and wishes them well in the future.
