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The story
History
Richard "Dick" Stack started the company as a fishing tackle store in Binghamton, New York, in 1948. He began with a $300 loan from his grandmother.
Edward W. Stack and his siblings purchased Dick's from their father in the early 1980s, when the company had two locations in Upstate New York. Stack established a board of directors, opened additional stores, and relocated the company's headquarters to Pittsburgh in 1994. He became chairman and chief executive officer following his father's retirement in 1984, and led the company during its initial public offering in 2002.
Dick's operated primarily throughout the Eastern United States until 2009 and has since expanded across the country. There are about 888 Dick's stores in 47 states, as of 2026. In 2012, the company opened three True Runner stores targeting runners in Boston, the St. Louis suburb Brentwood, and Pittsburgh's Shadyside neighborhood. The stores closed in early 2017.
Dick's launched the women's athleisure, fitness, and lifestyle store Chelsea Collective in 2015, opening two stores in Pittsburgh and Tysons, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. metro area. The shops closed in 2017. The company launched Dick's Team Sports HQ in early 2016, which offered youth sports teams websites, uniforms, and sponsorship options. Later in 2019, the management sold the two underlying technology platforms (Blue Sombrero and Affinity Sports) to Stack Sports, effectively ending its operation of Team Sports HQ.
Dick's opened its first Field & Stream store in Cranberry Township, a suburb of Pittsburgh, in 2013. Thirty-five Field & Stream stores were open across the country as of 2018. In 2023, Dick's shuttered its Field & Stream brand by converting its remaining such stores to its House of Sport concept or large-format Dick's stores.
After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018, Dick's stopped selling assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and increased the minimum age for purchasing guns to 21. Dick's-branded stores had suspended assault-style weapon sales following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, but the guns were still available for purchase at Field & Stream locations, which have since been shuttered. Dick's has never carried bump stocks. By 2020, the hunting category merchandise was reduced to 12% of Dick's stores.
The company operates six distribution centers. The most recent opened in April 2026 in Fort Worth, Texas and is reported to rely heavily on automation. In 2019, Dick's launched its private-label clothing line called DSG. The company's other brands include the women's line Calia, and their menswear brand VRST, among others.
Dick's opened its first "House of Sport" concept stores in Victor, New York, and Knoxville, Tennessee, in 2021. The stores are larger than Dick's flagship locations, sell higher-end gear and include features such as an outdoor turf field and track, climbing wall, batting cages, and a digital golf range. The same year, Dick's also launched and opened Public Lands, a chain of stores that focuses on outdoor recreation including camping, hiking, and biking. It was reported that Public Lands donates 1% of sales to the Dick's Sporting Goods Foundation's Public Lands Fund, oriented towards conservation and outdoor activities.
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In 2022, Dick's Sporting Goods launched DSG Ventures, an investment fund worth $50 million.
In August 2025, Dick's launched Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios, a proprietary content and production studio with focus on sports. The name of the studio references the founding story of Dick's, where the first store was opened on a $300 cookie jar savings budget. Its first release titled Big Dreams: The Little League World Series 2024 premiered on ESPN on 12 August 2025 and was produced in partnership with Imagine Entertainment and MLB Studios.
Acquisitions
Dick's acquired Galyan's in July 2004. The company agreed to purchase Golf Galaxy for $225 million in November 2006. Dick's confirmed plans to close Golf Galaxy's headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, in mid-2008.
Dick's acquired Chick's Sporting Goods in November 2007 for $71 million. At the time, Chick's operated 15 specialty sporting goods stores in Southern California. Dick's purchased the San Diego-based sports management technology company Affinity Sports for an undisclosed amount in mid-2016. In September, Dick's acquired Sports Authority's brand name and intellectual property. There were 450 Sports Authority locations at the time.
Dick's acquired Golfsmith, the largest golf retailer in the United States, at a bankruptcy auction in October 2016. Dick's bid approximately $70 million for all of Golfsmith's intellectual property and inventory. The company planned to retain around 30 of more than 100 Golfsmith's locations and 500 employees. As a result, in 2017 Dick's rebranded 36 Golfsmith stores in 16 U.S. states as Golf Galaxy. That increased the number of Golf Galaxy stores to 98, located in 33 states. In 2016, Dick's Sporting Goods also acquired GameChanger, a developer of a youth sports app which offers scorekeeping, live streaming app, statistics and team management.
In February 2023, Dick's Sporting Goods purchased Moosejaw from Walmart for an undisclosed amount.
In May 2025, Dick's Sporting Goods announced to acquire Foot Locker, Inc. and all its subsidiary brands. The deal covered 2,400 retail stores in 20 countries across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, and the transaction value was estimated at US$2.4 billion. According to official statements, the companies were expected to continue their positioning as independent brands. The acquisition was finalized in September 2025.
Lawsuits and legal proceedings
In February 2014, Dick's brought a lawsuit against Modell's Sporting Goods CEO Mitchell Modell (who featured on an episode of Undercover Boss in 2012), for going undercover into one of their stores to gain access to retail secrets. The lawsuit was settled out of court by April for undisclosed terms. Independent analysts suggested that Modell visited the store on a whim rather than as part of some plot to steal information.
In 2018, Dick's was sued for age discrimination by at least two people for no longer selling long guns to 18-20 year olds where legal. One case was settled in November 2018; details of the settlement are confidential, but it did not directly result in any changes to the retailer's policies. The second case was reported as "resolved" by an attorney for the plaintiff in late 2018 without disclosing details of any settlement.
Dick's Sporting Goods Foundation
In 2014, the Dick's Sporting Goods Foundation committed up to $2 million annually to fund youth sports via its Sports Matter program. The Sports Matter program was initiated in 2014 to provide grants, equipment, and sponsorships to underserved youth sports programs. Since its inception, Sports Matter has pledged more than US$100 million.
In 2023, Dick's Sporting Goods launched the 'Sports Change Lives' campaign to encourage participation in sports. The campaign partnered with Nike to feature athletes such as Mike Trout, A'ja Wilson, and Carmelo Anthony. Participating athletes each nominate a youth sports organization to receive a $75,000 grant. As of 2023, Dick's Sporting Goods and its foundation has pledged US$170 million for youth sports initiatives.
From Wikipedia’s article on Dick's Sporting Goods, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7