In 2018, Dick’s Sporting Goods halted sales of “assault weapons” in all retail locations, citing the shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, as the reason for the move. The company also raised the purchase age of firearms to 21 and stopped selling “high capacity” magazines. Today, Dick’s will now end gun sales in 125 of their 700 total stores. Removing hunting rifles and ammunition, the only gun-related products remaining at the 125 effected stores, will make room for other “in demand” merchandise. The move apparently hurt stock prices as well as slumped a yearly profit forecast. At the time of this writing, the company had already removed hunting rifles and ammunition from ten locations.

End gun sales: Dick’s Sporting to stop selling hunting rifles in 125 stores, drops Reebok

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-dicks-sporting-results/dicks-sporting-to-stop-selling-hunting-rifles-in-125-stores-drops-reebok-idUSKBN1QT22G

(Reuters) – Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc (DKS.N) said on Tuesday it would stop selling hunting equipment, including rifles and ammunition, at 125 stores in 2019, and drop Reebok merchandise from its outlets.

Shares of the company were down about 11.4 percent at $34.52 as Dick’s quarterly same-store sales missed Wall Street estimates and full-year profit forecast was largely below.

The retailer of camping supplies, sporting goods and guns tightened its gun sales policy last year in the wake of a high school shooting in Parkland, Florida in February 2018 that put pressure on its hunting business.

Following the incident, Dick’s was one of the first retailers to put a ban on sale of guns to people under 21 and on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines.

The retailer would replace the hunting supplies category with some kind of in-demand merchandise, Chief Executive Officer Edward Stack said in conference call. The company has already removed the category in 10 stores.

The company also said it would replace Reebok with a new in-house private label brand before schools reopen, sending shares of rival Nike Inc (NKE.N) and Under Armour Inc (UAA.N) down about 1-3 percent. – Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru, Reuters