Dick’s Sporting Goods Lays Off Employees As It Rolls Out Business Improvement Plan

Dick’s said it eliminated some roles, mainly in its customer support center.

Dick’s Sporting Goods on Tuesday rolled out a business improvement plan, part of which involves laying off a number of employees at the company’s customer service center.

In tandem with its earnings results for the second quarter, the sporting goods giant said it would implement a “business optimization” plan to align its “talent, organizational design and spending” while simplifying its cost structure overall.

As part of this plan, Dick’s said it eliminated some roles, mainly in its customer support center, on Aug 21. These cuts are expected to yield about $20 million in severance expenses in Q3. Cost savings from these cuts are expected to be offset by further investments in talent over the next year.

Dick’s did not confirm the number of impacted employees. According to a Bloomberg report, 250 corporate employees were let go.

With the news, Dick’s has become the latest retailer to implement a plan to cut costs and turn business around. In recent quarters, Wolverine Worldwide, VF Corporation, Under Armour and Adidas have all outlined different business transformation plans, with their leaders describing 2023 as a “reset” year, to set up their respective brands for long-term success with a focus on streamlining operations, cutting costs and elevating their products. In some cases, these changes have resulted in layoffs.

Dick’s posted net sales of 3.2 billion, up from 3.6 percent the prior year. Net income for Q2 was $244 million, or $2.82 per share, versus $319 million and $3.25 per share a year prior. Analysts surveyed by Yahoo were looking for revenues of $3.23 billion and EPS of $3.81. Comp sales grew 1.8 percent in the quarter.