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Woke Dick’s Sporting Goods says ‘theft’ is the problem

August 23, 2023 | | Print Article

Dick’s Sporting Goods, a go-to store for many outdoor activity enthusiasts, is finding out the hard way that being woke isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Despite being a retailer with a more rugged, rural customer base, Dick’s took the opportunity to pander to a more leftist clientele in 2021 as was popular to do.

Much head-scratching ensued as people couldn’t figure out why Dick’s wouldn’t just stick to selling running shoes and fishing poles. Then in 2022, they once again ventured into the realm of politics following the SCOTUS decision that ultimately overturned Roe v Wade. They offered to pay for their employees to seek out abortions if they lived in states that have tighter restrictions, which was not popular on X, known as Twitter at the time.

Of course, one can’t forget the company’s baffling decision to stop selling firearms in a large number of its stores. This multi-year phasing out of firearms in their outlets served as a final straw for many buyers.

A number of people vowed to avoid shopping at the outlet as long as the corporate suits continued to toe the leftist ideological line, but now Dick’s is reportedly blaming their steep drop in profits on something other than turning off their customers.

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Second-quarter numbers indicate a 23% plunge in profits, and the sporting goods store is pointing the finger squarely at the massive spike in retail thefts occurring around the country.

“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,” said CEO and president Lauren Hobart. “Inventory shrink” is a fancy industry term for “getting our stuff stolen.”

“Based on the results from our most recent physical inventory cycle, the impact of theft on our shrink was meaningful to both our second-quarter results and our go-forward expectations for the balance of the year. We are doing everything we can to address the problem and keep our stores, our teammates and athletes safe,” she continued.

Can thefts solely be blamed for such a shocking decline in sales, or could a combination of tone-deaf political pandering and lack of effective loss prevention be the reason they are suffering? Social media has some thoughts on that:

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Sierra Marlee
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