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A challenge to Authority

Dick's Sporting Goods, by opening two Tampa Bay area stores, restores competition.

By Mark Albright
Published March 14, 2007

Andi Ford, an apparel processor at Dick's Sporting Goods, places price tags on rifles and shotguns on display at the soon-to-open store at the Westfield Brandon mall.
	[Times photo: Chris Zuppa]

After seven years of no direct competitor, Sports Authority is getting a wakeup call in the Tampa Bay area.

Dick's Sporting Goods Inc., the big-box sporting goods chain's biggest national rival, opens its first two local stores on Friday in Westfield Brandon and Westfield Citrus Park malls. Sports Authority has strength in numbers with seven local stores, but its Pittsburgh-based competitor will open a third store at The Grove at Wesley Chapel in Pasco and is signing deals for more.

The burst of competition comes seven years after the demise of JumboSports, a 47-store Tampa chain that cratered in a segment of big-box retailing that outgrew its audience.

Founded in Fort Lauderdale, Sports Authority was later gobbled up by a Denver chain that went private last year. Sports Authority and Dick's are rival survivors that have led industry consolidation since 2000.

Much has changed since then. Stores that specialize in one sport, such as GolfSmith and Edwin Watts Golf, siphoned off some of the niches. Sales of fan-wear settled down and customers shifted to specialists that can stock more of the plethora of products like the 3,000 licensed products flashing Gators' logos. Athletic footwear is everywhere, from Finish Line to Payless ShoeSource.

In fact, Wal-Mart sells more sporting goods than Dick's and Sports Authority combined.

Located locally almost within spitting distance of each other, Dick's and Sports Authority stores don't appear that different. Both have PGA pros and certified fitness trainers. Both staff stores with 50 to 60 people. Both get about half their sales from apparel and footwear.

There are, however, distinctions. Dick's, named for founder Dick Stack, whose son, Ed, is now chairman and CEO, offers a carpeted, more upscale atmosphere than the warehouselike Sports Authority. Dick's has hardwood and rubber track surfaces to test shoes and a golf simulator rather than just a driving cage. More important, Dick's generates as much business $3.14-billion in fiscal 2007 with 108 fewer stores. That's because Dick's turns over its inventory almost a third faster than Sports Authority's 402 stores, a sign that Dick's more often has in stock what the customer wants.

"We're going to beat them with customer service," said Danny Wright, Dick's manager in Brandon.

Sports Authority isn't taking the newcomer idly. The Brandon store was just remodeled and offers a full-service footwear department.

No-pain propane

Tampa Bay residents hire an army of yard, pool, lawn chemical and pest-control services. So it was a matter of time before the "propane fairy" appeared.

Yes, you don't have to be home for this automatic fillup service for gas grills and mosquito magnets.

Fillups start at $25 a month for a 20-pound cylinder, more than twice the cost of schlepping that rusty, flammable tank in for a refill.

Suburban was surprised how many restaurants have their patio heaters filled by the service created for high-income homeowners.

The biggest local customer: an Odessa man who went through the equivalent of ten 20-pound LP cylinders a month during football season.

"He entertains a lot and likes to boil peanuts," said Tampa sales manager Joe Crisafulli.

Mark Albright can be reached at albright@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8252.

Fast Facts:

Coming soon

Of 15 new stores Dick's Sporting Goods plans to open in the Southeast this year, five or six will be in Florida, and the company is picking a distribution center site to serve the Southeast.

[Last modified March 13, 2007, 22:55:03]