Inside the Dick’s Sporting Goods playbook: A deep dive into Foot Locker’s new parent company

While Foot Locker is well-known internationally, Dick’s Sporting Goods has largely flown under the radar outside of North America. But its trajectory, from a local bait-and-tackle shop to a 13 billion dollar sporting goods powerhouse, reveals a strategy built on consistent expansion, retail innovation and operational persistence.

From bait shop to billion-dollar brand

Dick’s Sporting Goods traces its roots back to Binghamton, New York, where, in 1948, 18-year-old Richard ‘Dick’ Stack opened a small fishing supply store using a 300 dollar loan from his grandmother. By the 1950s, Stack had expanded the store’s product assortment beyond fishing tackle to include workwear and outdoor equipment, laying the groundwork for a general sporting goods offering.

Little movement was made until the 1970s, when Stack’s son, Ed Stack, took over the business and, along with his siblings, eventually acquired full ownership. From there, Dick’s pivoted from a regional operation to a growing national chain store. By 1996, it had around 50 stores across the US and, by the end of the century, annual revenues had surpassed 728 million dollars.

IPO and acquisition sprees

The company went public in 2002, and followed this up with an aggressive acquisition strategy. Between 2004 and 2007, Dick’s snapped up several regional competitors and lifestyle retailers, including Galyan’s Trading Company, Golf Galaxy and Chick’s Sporting Goods.

The collapse of one of its main rivals Sports Authority in 2016 presented further opportunity. Dick’s acquired the brand’s IP and leveraged its existing digital presence to accelerate e-commerce, launching a dedicated digital platform in 2017. By 2021, Dick’s reported 12.3 billion dollars in revenue.

Pandemic resilience and post-Covid innovation

While many retailers struggled during Covid-19, Dick’s adapted swiftly. The rollout of curbside pickup for online orders proved essential, allowing the company to meet consumer needs despite store closures. Post-pandemic, the retailer further leaned into experiential retail. Launched in 2021, House of Sport features climbing walls and putting greens, while its outdoors-focused counterpart, Public Lands, has also gained traction despite early setbacks.

Both formats reflect Dick’s continued shift towards community-centric retail experiences, and its expansion plans only reaffirm this. As of early 2025, the company operates 19 House of Sport stores, with ambitions to grow this number to between 75 and 100 locations by 2027.

In fact, in contrast to the challenging environment broader retail is tackling, Dick’s has continued to widely invest in brick-and-mortar retail. The company currently has 889 stores across its banners, a figure that has likely contributed to the record sales it reported in the second quarter of the current fiscal year.

During this period, net sales rose 5 percent year-over-year to 3.47 billion dollars, prompting the company to raise its full-year outlook. Sales are now expected to grow between 2 and 3.5 percent, with earnings per diluted share projected between 13.90 and 14.50 dollars.

Why Foot Locker – and why now?

While it’s clear Dick’s is in a position to venture into a new realm with Foot Locker, the contrast with the footwear specialist is stark. Once a dominant global player, Foot Locker has seen sharp declines in recent quarters. In Q1 2025, it posted a 363 million dollar net loss and announced a series of store closures, along with the sale of its licensed operations in Greece and Romania. Despite some stabilisation in North America, overall performance remained challenging into the following quarter.

Foot Locker still holds strategic value, however, operating 2,400 stores across 20 countries, offering Dick’s immediate access to international markets it has yet to enter. For a company whose operations have so far been limited to North America, the deal marks a major step towards global expansion.

Dick’s also sees the acquisition as an opportunity to align the strengths of the two brands. Both companies had invested in differentiated retail formats, such as Foot Locker’s Reimagine and Dick’s House of Sport. While Foot Locker’s dragging financials may weigh on margins, in the long-term, benefits for Dick’s lie in global scale, deeper brand partnerships and a diversified presence.

The acquisition itself is a significantly transformative move for Dick’s. If successful, the merger could serve as a template for how US retailers could expand internationally through acquisition, entering new markets by reimagining existing footprints. With this, Dick’s appears to be playing the long-game. In doing so, it could position itself not only as a national leader, but as the blueprint for future sports retail.