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Old April 17, 2018, 01:25 PM   #1
spacecoast
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Dick's destroying lots of rifles

I would be really angry about this if I was a shareholder.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/04/17...-shooting.html
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Old April 17, 2018, 01:27 PM   #2
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Dear Mr Dick,
I would be happy to help you destroy them there AR-15s. Evil things, aren't they? I'll just back up my truck and you load me up, I'll make sure they are taken care of

lol, what a dumb PR stunt.
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Old April 17, 2018, 01:41 PM   #3
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No problem. Destroying their own property will only hurt Dick's which is good because they have a wretched 2nd Amendment stance. It's kind of like Dick's boycotting themselves
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Old April 17, 2018, 01:42 PM   #4
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How do you know that this isn’t what the shareholders wanted? These moves are not profit based.
Since our government can’t get the nanny state regulations fast enough, the corporations are stepping in.
I don’t know about all corporations, I assume many are good. I don’t know Dick’s history to know if it’s history is clean, I assume that it is. However, many corporations trying to instill moral values in all of us have committed grave atrocities in the past, some in my lifetime.

In the end, Dick’s owns the guns, they can destroy them if they wish. If it was truly a moral decision, we wouldn’t have known about it.
I do nice things for people all the time, I don’t need to announce it to the media to feel good about it.
Doing good alone is good, no need to virtue signal for doing it if that’s your belief system.
Just a political favor for someone.
They’ll claim some tax write off.
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Old April 17, 2018, 04:37 PM   #5
Sure Shot Mc Gee
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They can do as they please . They own em. And likely will take each & every firearms MSR pricing as a IRS deduction.

To be honest I have a Dicks sporting goods store East of me not 10 minuets away. I've never been in the store since its beginning (15 years) and at my age its likely I never will shop there. I'd rather drive West a additional 10 minutes (20 min total ) for a look see at my local Cabela's.

Just thinking outside the box & out-loud:
In time I expect to see Dicks go belly up. As those Sports stores I've witnessed over the years who chose not to cater to those involved in the shoot sports. Yup _ aren't likely to stay open selling Gym shorts & Jock straps vs a box or two of 3"_#5_ shot- shells so to harvest that foot long (beard) Spring gobbler with. "No_nope_nada."
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Old April 17, 2018, 05:05 PM   #6
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Quote:
Just thinking outside the box & out-loud:
In time I expect to see Dicks go belly up. As those Sports stores I've witnessed over the years who chose not to cater to those involved in the shoot sports. Yup _ aren't likely to stay open selling Gym shorts & Jock straps vs a box or two of 3"_#5_ shot- shells so to harvest that foot long (beard) Spring gobbler with. "No_nope_nada."
This is absolutely true. Before I really became vested in the shooting sports, I had a .22 rifle and a 7.62x39 rifle for SHTF because that's the way I rolled back when I was in my late teen's and alcohol was tough to come by until I was 21. Where did I go to buy ammo for my guns that I shot once a year in the backyard? A sporting goods store called Dunham's. They had a lot of those gym shorts and Jacques straps, but that's not what I was buying.

Can't say they made much money off me with those $2/50rd boxes of CCI Blazer or $6/20rds of Wolf when they were on sale, but that's the only business I was there for.

Dick's is only destroying AR's, so Idk how much of a hit in the pocket they're going to take, but they've exposed themselves as Anti-gun and when Black Friday rolls around and they have their usual buy one, get the 2nd box half off... I won't be bothering. I'll never be a customer of theirs again.
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Old April 17, 2018, 06:10 PM   #7
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I think the assumption Dick’s will go under might be legitimate.
I changed my mind on this because, as stated above, many sporting goods store have gone out of business.
I don’t buy sporting goods a sporting goods stores unless im in there for ammunition or outdoor stuff.

If I want something to do with camping, I’ll just go to a department store or order online.
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Old April 17, 2018, 06:35 PM   #8
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There's a Dick's not far from me -- MUCH closer than Cabela's or Bass Pro. The only times I have ever gone there was to look for .22 rimfire ammo, and they never had it when I was looking.

They won't miss my business.
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Old April 17, 2018, 07:00 PM   #9
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Legitimate sports businesses has to be jumping with joy at the stupidity of Dicks!

rickyrick says...
Quote:
They’ll claim some tax write off.
I'm sure that a business cannot write off product that it could have just returned! LOL!
The IRS would have a hard time with that, I can see the audit now..
IRS agent: "So let me get this straight, the business could have simply returned the product to the manufacturer BUT instead the company spent money and resources to actually destroy the product!
You now want to write that off as a viable "Business Expense & Loss!"

I own my own Corporate Business and I'm really trying to figure out how I could willingly destroy my product (especially when I could simply return it) and list it as a loss on my books.
It's not like I own a grocery store and it's bad or expired milk...LOL

I worked over 20 years for a nationwide public company that would actually lay people off to make the numbers look good to the investors! LOL!
I cannot believe that all of the investors can be happy about voluntarily taking a loss on the product (when it can be RETURNED!) not to mention losing ALL future sales on a legal to sell item.

ALL sales are precious and to just voluntarily throw out a complete segment of a businesses income, while others are still profiting at that same segment giving your competition the ability to grow their profits from your businesses ignorance is inconceivable.
Wild business MO!
I would really like to be at the next shareholders meeting and see how the CEO is selling this concept as anything but a incompetent & bad financial decision.

Can you imagine Cabellas or Bass Pro doing this same thing.
It's the craziest thing I've ever seen in big business!
I wondering about the numbers of AR's that are being destroyed.
Were not talking about a $50.00 item, even at their cost!

Mackie244 / Bud

Last edited by Mackie244Bud; April 17, 2018 at 07:23 PM.
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Old April 17, 2018, 07:08 PM   #10
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I'd like to know that Dick's is hurting but I'd bet not. Only been in 2 stores in the last 20 years and they never had much in firearms.

Their target seems to be jogging outfits and sports clothing. But god I hope they close their doors.
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Old April 17, 2018, 07:18 PM   #11
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Quote:

rickyrick says...


I'm sure that a business cannot write off product that it could have just returned!
Actually they can. It's a cost of doing business. Damaged goods. Stolen goods. Destroyed goods. I asked my CPA and she said they will likely add it to "COGS", Cost Of Goods Sold, and if large enough make a notation in their 10K annual report next year.
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Old April 17, 2018, 07:22 PM   #12
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As everyone here expects, this will keep pro gun types out of the store but I doubt it does anything positive to bring in those that are anti-gun now or long term.

Frankly, I go in about once every 18 months and it is always the same, store is mostly empty, I go to the counter and wait and wait while my wife waits and waits to try on shoes. My experience was that it was on it's last leg already and from my perspective and this was the last ditch effort to revitalize a dim future.

May well be different in other stores, my experience is very limited but I could care less if they stay in business because I think they are already doomed.
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Old April 17, 2018, 07:43 PM   #13
Mackie244Bud
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Quote:
Actually they can. It's a cost of doing business. Damaged goods. Stolen goods. Destroyed goods. I asked my CPA and she said they will likely add it to "COGS", Cost Of Goods Sold, and if large enough make a notation in their 10K annual report next year.
I do not agree with that statement!
These AR's are not:
1) Damaged Goods
2) Stolen Goods
3) Destroyed Goods... This is per as I stated expired or bad food..
Not because you just wanted to have a company bon fire and your product was the only thing available to burn! LOL!
This is NOT for destroying perfectly good profitable product!
You would never get it past the IRS.
4) Cost of Goods Sold...Not on your life!

Get a new CPA!
OR
The CPA wants to try and use it as a inventive expense hoping that the IRS does not question it.
I would NOT want to meet with the IRS and try and convince them that YES I destroyed perfectly good product viable for sale and or the ability to return said product to the manufacturer, thus either option would have recouped moneys to the company.
Instead rather than business income or recouped money for product the business Paid wages and expenses to destroy the product and paid the dumping fee on top of that and I want to show it as a viable business expense! NOT!
Lot's of negative business costs are involved with this business endeavor.

But hold on...
Rather than the expensing above maybe they are thinking of it as a Advertising expense hoping to garner support and produce anti gunner sales!
It's a expensive advertising strategy and novel approach..
Destroy your own product to garner sympathetic sales..
But hey, if all of the investors signed off on this company strategy then all is good..
Take the company hit and hope for the best!
That would be real company greed to say you care when in reality you just want to make a publicity buzz and get people in the store!
If you have to destroy some AR's and suck up to peoples high emotions..
DO IT...Call the media, we have our next marketing campaign..Hey were going down we have to try anything!

Last edited by Mackie244Bud; April 17, 2018 at 08:24 PM.
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Old April 17, 2018, 08:23 PM   #14
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If they really wanted to make a difference, they should be buying up every black rifle they can, and destroying them! I've been in two Dick's store over the years, and I can only say...the name suits them well.
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Old April 17, 2018, 08:31 PM   #15
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Dicks stopped selling AR's several years ago after the Sandy Hook shooting. They recently purchased a chain of Field and Stream stores. Only 35 stores nationwide. Field and Stream did carry AR's. It is the Field and Stream stores that are no longer selling AR's. With only 35 stores this isn't a lot of inventory. But the negative impact will be felt at both stores.
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Old April 17, 2018, 09:03 PM   #16
FrankenMauser
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Meh.
Purely PR.

Their service and selection was crap before. They could have kissed my butt and I still wouldn't have gone back. They can certainly do so now for the same result.
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Old April 17, 2018, 09:27 PM   #17
Dan_o
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Quote:
These AR's are not:
1) Damaged Goods
2) Stolen Goods
3) Destroyed Goods... This is per as I stated expired or bad food..
Not because you just wanted to have a company bon fire and your product was the only thing available to burn! LOL!
This is NOT for destroying perfectly good profitable product!
You would never get it past the IRS.
4) Cost of Goods Sold...Not on your life!
Let's say they gave away all of those AR's to legally eligible folks who entered a random drawing when they visited the local store, and wrote it off as a marketing expense. Would that pass muster with the IRS?

They're getting a ton of publicity out of this whole thing, to the point where we're discussing it on a pro-2A forum (and I can count on one hand the number of times I have shopped at Dicks in the past 10 or 20 years). It's a cost that is serving their current public image purpose.
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Old April 18, 2018, 01:41 AM   #18
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Two possibilities,

1) they are accepting the loss of both their cost and potential profit, in order to show the "ideological purity" of their management to the anti-gun people, who do buy track shoes and short, etc.

2) same as #1, but they have figured a way to write off, or minimize the financial loss.

If, for example, if they had run an ad campaign which promoted a product by torture testing it to destruction (to show how tough it was), they could write off the cost of the destroyed item(s) as part of the ad cost.

On the other hand, torching/crushing, what ever they are doing to destroy the rifles as a PR move and then expecting to get paid for doing it (and being able to write off a loss as an expense is "getting paid" for the loss in a way, I think that would be a tough sell to any auditor.

on the other hand, they are Dick's....
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Old April 18, 2018, 02:27 AM   #19
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The irs is a government entity that is supposed to remain neutral, just like the fbi, by and the cia.
None of those entities have ever been used politically. Also, someone has to get audited, to be audited... not actually a routine occurrence.
Besides a tax write off, some other entity might just be covering thier loss for them. My bet is they are merely performing a political favor for someone, or some billionaire philanthropist has convinced them to do so.
All speculation, of course. One thing is for certain, endless hours in meetings occurred, metrics examined and pages of spreadsheets were made to facilitate these decisions.
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Old April 18, 2018, 02:37 AM   #20
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It's just more ~Virtue Signaling~. By a corporation this time rather than a celebrity. But same same.
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Old April 18, 2018, 03:28 AM   #21
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Interesting.....

http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_...tandethics.pdf

It would seem that Dick's - or more to the point, the individuals making the decision to destroy perfectly salable merchandise, based on a political cause, are in direct violation of their own code of ethics.
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Old April 18, 2018, 05:09 AM   #22
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First, here in north central PA, Dick's is definitely not a store to go into for firearm shopping (nor is Field and Stream). Their targeted shoppers are more millenials (and those that fancy themselves in a similar fashion), for golf, soccer, various sports clothes, camping and fishing. Having visited both stores, their inventory of "black" arms is not extensive. During my visits, foot traffic was not extensive, so this 'inventory reduction" may be a sought for excuse, in other words, Dick's waited for the next gun event to extract themselves from a market segment.

Dick's has a decent online business, and I have purchased items from them, that are competitively priced (retail stores are not).

I'm not an accountant, but I do own a manufacturing business, and I am familiar with inventory write-downs. Generally descriptions are limited to verbage such as "obsolete" or "stale". With Dick's, is the inventory "floor planned", in other words having the value under written by a lender or the manufacturer? Or is the inventory owned by Dick's? We don't know, but I would suspect the value is a very tiny percentage of the entire part of what Dick's holds. Further, do we know Dick's is actually destroying the inventory (as they claim), or will they hide it away in an obscure warehouse for "X" years, until some future time, when it actually is obsolete?

I'm not defending Dick's, but believe this was more a business decision than a societal decision (in a way). I believe this is more a means to focus on what is being defined as a core business direction, giving way to acceptable "write-downs" of inventory, to attain the goal.
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Old April 18, 2018, 05:14 AM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 44 AMP View Post
Two possibilities,

1) they are accepting the loss of both their cost and potential profit, in order to show the "ideological purity" of their management to the anti-gun people, who do buy track shoes and short, etc.

2) same as #1, but they have figured a way to write off, or minimize the financial loss.

If, for example, if they had run an ad campaign which promoted a product by torture testing it to destruction (to show how tough it was), they could write off the cost of the destroyed item(s) as part of the ad cost.

On the other hand, torching/crushing, what ever they are doing to destroy the rifles as a PR move and then expecting to get paid for doing it (and being able to write off a loss as an expense is "getting paid" for the loss in a way, I think that would be a tough sell to any auditor.

on the other hand, they are Dick's....
Thing is that those Anti's who might be those who buy shorts and shoes will always buy them for the lowest price, which will probably be from Target, Amazon, etc.

The Anti's aren't brand loyal people, well except when it comes to Apple, Facebook, etc.
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Old April 18, 2018, 06:18 AM   #24
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Originally Posted by rickyrick View Post
They’ll claim some tax write off.
Slightly off topic but Businesses/Corporations don't pay any taxes. Whatever cost that is imposed on them by government is passed on to the consumer. A Business/Corporation may collect taxes for the government but they don't actually pay them.
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Old April 18, 2018, 06:25 AM   #25
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Thing is that those Anti's who might be those who buy shorts and shoes will always buy them for the lowest price, which will probably be from Target, Amazon, etc.

The Anti's aren't brand loyal people, well except when it comes to Apple, Facebook, etc.
I think you are making some pretty strong and incorrect assumptions about "the antis" as a group.

If Dick's fails it will because of a failed business model as a whole. The destruction of a few AR15s is not going to be it. Considering there move to not sell them after Sandy Hook and later "reentry" into the market I think some here are giving far too much consideration to the purchasing power of the vocal pro gunners who "will never set foot in a Dick's sporting goods again." Frankly I am going to guess that group accounted for next to nothing in Dick's bottom line in the first place.

It would be like me stating "I'm never going to step foot in that restaurant again" when referencing a five star dining establishment. Considering I have not to this point and do not intend to it's a fairly meaningless statement.
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