Dick's Sporting Goods to Expand House of Sport Format
After opening its first three DICK'S House of Sport stores in Rochester, New York; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Minnetonka, Minnesota, DICK'S Sporting Goods plans to add more than 12 new locations in the next two years. DICK'S House of Sport is a 100,000-plus square foot store that provides athletes with an assortment of products along with in-store experiences, including a climbing wall, multiple golf bays with TrackMan simulators, and multisport cages that can be used for baseball, softball, lacrosse and soccer and give athletes an opportunity to try product while measuring and tracking their performance. Furthermore, House of Sport stores focus on deep integration with the local community through partnerships and events.
Total Retail's Take: Investing in experiential brick-and-mortar locations is paying dividends for Dick's Sporting Goods. The retailer is leveraging its fun and actionable product lines to create engaging in-store shopping experiences for its guests, an approach designed to get customers to stay in stores longer, convert more frequently, and spend more on those transactions. Therefore, it's not surprising that Dick's has announced it will be expanding its House of Sport store concept to at least 12 new locations in the next two years.
The news comes on the heels of a strong Q1 for Dick's Sporting Goods. The retailer earlier this week reported a 5.2 percent increase in revenue (to $2.84 billion, $40 million above expectations). Additionally, Dick's posted a 3.4 percent increase in first quarter comparable store sales “driven by a 2.7 percent increase in transactions as well as higher average ticket."
Dick's Sporting Goods has done a nice job of integrating its online and offline channels to create a seamless shopping experience for its customers. Given the success it has seen in its brick-and-mortar business, I would expect to see more strategic expansion of the company's physical footprint. It seems even in a challenging economic environment, sport still plays for Dick's Sporting Goods.
