First ever Field and Stream Store Opening in Cranberry

[greg42]

Lessee, Sandy Hook was mid-December, then we have the usual end of year holidays. Dick's filed plans with the township in late January. That timing indicates it was in planning well before Sandy Hook.

They purchased the rights to the name in September 2012. They actually own the trademark (through a subsidiary) for at least the categories covered by the store. Before that, they licensed the trademark from the owner. Clearly the work on this began in September or most likely before that with just that rights purchase being finalized in September.

Source: Dick's to start Field & Stream outdoor equipment store | TribLIVE

Not that it will placate anyone who is holding a grudge against Dick's, but the reality is it is not a direct response to the backlash.

[UKyank]

I hope the prices on their ammo is cheaper then what dicks regular stores sell it for. Even with shipping I've found cabelas always less then dicks prices.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by greg42

Lessee, Sandy Hook was mid-December, then we have the usual end of year holidays. Dick's filed plans with the township in late January. That timing indicates it was in planning well before Sandy Hook.

They purchased the rights to the name in September 2012. They actually own the trademark (through a subsidiary) for at least the categories covered by the store. Before that, they licensed the trademark from the owner. Clearly the work on this began in September or most likely before that with just that rights purchase being finalized in September.

Source: Dick's to start Field & Stream outdoor equipment store | TribLIVE

Not that it will placate anyone who is holding a grudge against Dick's, but the reality is it is not a direct response to the backlash.

This is all well and good but going from "we're not selling your AR's, mags, and ammo" to "HEY GUYS COME ON IN WE GOT EVERYTHING, SORRY ABOUT BEFORE" is absolutely a response to the outrage customers exhibited. Take a look at the comments for the article I posted and you'll see many similar sentiments.

I mean it makes total sense from a business perspective to bring in formerly disgruntled customers by doing an about-face, but what they're doing is pretty blatant.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

This is all well and good but going from "we're not selling your AR's, mags, and ammo" to "HEY GUYS COME ON IN WE GOT EVERYTHING, SORRY ABOUT BEFORE" is absolutely a response to the outrage customers exhibited. Take a look at the comments for the article I posted and you'll see many similar sentiments.

I can't complain; I picked up a pair of their Black Friday AR specials for $799 & sold them about a month later for $2500 & 2300 respectively to some panicky people with too much $$ to blow.

But yea, their flip floppy policy was not good for pr purposes & p*ssed off a lot of their core customers

[greg42]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

This is all well and good but going from "we're not selling your AR's, mags, and ammo" to "HEY GUYS COME ON IN WE GOT EVERYTHING, SORRY ABOUT BEFORE" is absolutely a response to the outrage customers exhibited. Take a look at the comments for the article I posted and you'll see many similar sentiments.

I mean it makes total sense from a business perspective to bring in formerly disgruntled customers by doing an about-face, but what they're doing is pretty blatant.

The link you posted doesn't suggest what you are writing exactly. It's a blog post that says "Rumor is that $8 million worth of ammo is allocated to this store" with no other source except "I am told there's an incredible amount of ammo allocated to this store." Which is fine. I'm sure you trust the blog author and his sources, and I don't have any particular reason to doubt him. But even he couches it as rumor so it could be exaggerated.

It doesn't say anything about them trying to bring in disgruntled prior customers, but of course the fact that they are carrying ARs when they stopped doing so before makes that statement indirectly. I dunno if indirectly like that is "blatant", doesn't seem that to me. Blatant is if they send out an apology mailing to prior customers. The store opening under a different name may incidentally help them in this, but it clearly wasn't planned out that way.

The comments on that blog don't surprise me. Hey, I hold a grudge against some retailers too. There are some places I just won't go, for various reasons, that may not ever hold true for anyone else. But I don't think that alone will make the Field and Stream store unsuccessful, because typically only a small portion of people react that way. I am willing to admit I could be wrong in that prediction.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

This is all well and good but going from "we're not selling your AR's, mags, and ammo" to "HEY GUYS COME ON IN WE GOT EVERYTHING, SORRY ABOUT BEFORE" is absolutely a response to the outrage customers exhibited. Take a look at the comments for the article I posted and you'll see many similar sentiments.

I mean it makes total sense from a business perspective to bring in formerly disgruntled customers by doing an about-face, but what they're doing is pretty blatant.

The thing is, I highly doubt that 90% of Joe Schmoe American consumers are even going to realize it's actually Dick's that owns the store. To us, it appears as an about face, but to everyone else it's "hey look at this shiny new store!". Americans are extremely uneducated about the corporate chains of things and where their stuff comes from.

Maybe I am underestimating how many Americans follow guns and ammo closely though. I'm pretty anti-gun.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

The thing is, I highly doubt that 90% of Joe Schmoe American consumers are even going to realize it's actually Dick's that owns the store. To us, it appears as an about face, but to everyone else it's "hey look at this shiny new store!". Americans are extremely uneducated about the corporate chains of things and where their stuff comes from.

No doubt, you are absolutely correct. I'm sure that they'll be doing big business up there, especially since people won't have to drive to WV for a Cabelas-like store anymore.

But the enthusiast guys (like the folks on TFB and myself) will be avoiding them like the plague.

[burghatory]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

I really doubt Dick's whipped up an entirely new store concept in only a few months just because of some Sandy Hook backlash. Things like this take years of research and planning to execute. This looks like it slots in between REI and Cabela's, and Dick's has been moving towards niche concepts for a while (see True Runner).

Agreed. The Dicks stores are more for sports,runners,cyclists and it makes sense to move guns and ammo to a dedicated outdoor specialty store, but wasnt the biggest reason for Dicks to open Field and Stream. I think the biggest driver of this concept is that camping ,hiking,kayaking ,etc. are increasing in popularity so the demand will exist in the marketplace