Do Boycotts Work

[bwframe]

I believe what I see confirmations for.

Springfield and Ruger are both companies that have learned from their errors of the past, as have Smith and Wesson. They are not the same companies that they were when the bad moves were made.

I'm not convinced that PayPal ever was anti-gun. They are a financial company that didn't want the implication, association or liability with firearms purchasing.

On the other hand, everyone knows what Walmart did to us. Kicking the gun community when we were down, at the public request of gun control groups? Kroger following Walmart's lead and then NASCAR too. Pretty obvious.

When you start talking boycotting Walmart, Kroger and NASCAR though, oh my. That get's into a whole lot of lifestyle for some gun owners.

A smart gun owner would be conscious of businesses that work counter of our better interests. In a perfect world, we would give them none of our dollars at all.

In a less that perfect world, if gun owners couldn't find a way to avoid supporting business that are anti-2A, the least they could do is keep their pie holes shut. Posting on social media (including INGO) about doing business with the enemy is one of our biggest downfalls. So and so shops there, it must be OK ...

 

[Ingomike]

Boycotts work for me. As a strong 2A proponent, why would I even consider supporting any business that takes a negative stance towards the 2A?

It's a simple answer.

The same as voting for a democrat.

I don't think the question was "do boycotts work for you", it was do they work? Do you see a change in those boycotted?

 

[DadSmith]

Does dicks sell guns anymore? That should tell you it works to an extent.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

Does dicks sell guns anymore? That should tell you it works to an extent.

I thought they quit selling guns, and then we boycotted in response?

 

[DadSmith]

I thought they quit selling guns, and then we boycotted in response?

Iirc it was the evil black guns they stopped selling. Then it went to hunting only. Now it's no firearms because the majority of people stopped shopping them for firearms.

 

[Mattroth54]

From what I see, the DSG “boycott” caused DSG to pivot away from firearms and perhaps double down on ball stuff. Based on up thread post, this worked for Dicks. Did the boycott work? I guess the answer lies in how you define success. My LGS might say that was a win. At the same time, DSG managed to come out slightly changed, but moving along a slightly different road.

 

[Leadeye]

Decisions about anti-2A in a business aren't made for economic reasons, they are made for personal reasons by the corporate leadership which can be as simplistic as a 50 year old executive trying to impress a 20 year old barista at a Starbucks. Unless the company receives so much flak over that decision that it starts losing a substantial amount of money, nothing will change. The people who hire the anti-2A decision maker have their own stake in that action, and won't change their mind about them easily.

For me the boycott is about me, I'll make the decision about what brand to use or where to buy. It's all that I can do in the big process.

 

[Trapper Jim]

Thanks for all the great responses. There are many thoughts on this however the criteria for deciding to boycott a company is unclear. No brain er s like DSG are clear and present. But take the flack Ruger May have taken on safety warnings, over engineering,
distributor control, and promoting the 10round mag limit. The question is, did that justify boycotting or was that acceptable business to keep them afloat? What should be the criteria for knowing the whole story before one dumps on them?

this is just one example in a sea of others. What responsibility lies with the boycotter for really investigating the whole story.?

 

[DRob]

If you think trying to get a few guys on a forum to boycott a large corporation is even noticed on their bottom line, you're kidding yourself. For example, I doubt there are many, if any, INGOers still shopping at Dick's Sporting Goods but Dick don't know it and Dick don't care. They did themselves more harm by eliminating a product line that sells like hotcakes everywhere else. I'll boycott them anyway.

 

[Phase2]

As of 03/10/20, the data does not support that Dick's Sporting Goods has been hurt: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/10/dicks-sporting-goods-dks-reports-q4-2020-earnings.html

One month later and things have changed significantly.

While Gun Shops are Swarmed with Customers, Dick’s Furloughs 40,000 Employees

 

[Hatin Since 87]

One month later and things have changed significantly.

While Gun Shops are Swarmed with Customers, Dick’s Furloughs 40,000 Employees

I feel for the employees, but this serves him right.

He fought the free market and the free market won.

 

[VERT]

I have a different opinion of Dicks political decisions. They eliminated a product with a high labor requirement, liability issues and low margin. Ok they lost some hunting sales but that business was going to Cabelas/Bass Pro anyway. Roll the dice an pander to the granola eaters and soccer mommies. I think it backfired for them in the short term, but overall guns were not their bread and butter or really part of the overall business model.

 

[VERT]

One month later and things have changed significantly.

While Gun Shops are Swarmed with Customers, Dick’s Furloughs 40,000 Employees

I disagree. Gun counter sales would not have kept the store in business. However, having guns and ammo might have allowed them to remain “essential” and let them stay open thereby giving them a competitive advantage in being able to sell tennis shoes and sleeping bags.

 

[Phase2]

I disagree. Gun counter sales would not have kept the store in business. However, having guns and ammo might have allowed them to remain “essential” and let them stay open thereby giving them a competitive advantage in being able to sell tennis shoes and sleeping bags.

Not sure what you are getting at here. The first sentence is contradicted by the following two.

 

[VERT]

Not sure what you are getting at here. The first sentence is contradicted by the following two.

Guns are low margin compared to other goods sold at a local sporting goods store. So you take a lower margin product and then devote resources such as clerks at the gun counter and it doesn’t take long for the business model not to work. Better to devote that space to selling other merchandise.

Competitive advantage: Gun Stores can remain open because of guns, Walmart can remain open because of food. So what is closed, JCPenny. I can go to Walmart and buy a shirt but not Penny’s. Maybe if Penny’s had a gun counter or sold twinkies they would still be open.

 

[Phase2]

Guns are low margin compared to other goods sold at a local sporting goods store. So you take a lower margin product and then devote resources such as clerks at the gun counter and it doesn’t take long for the business model not to work. Better to devote that space to selling other merchandise.

Competitive advantage: Gun Stores can remain open because of guns, Walmart can remain open because of food. So what is closed, JCPenny. I can go to Walmart and buy a shirt but not Penny’s. Maybe if Penny’s had a gun counter or sold twinkies they would still be open.

Still not sure what you are going on about here. How can gun stores survive almost exclusively on a low-margin product where a larger, more diversified retailer can't?

Dicks didn't get rid of guns because of low margin. They got rid of guns due to virtue signaling after a couple of shooting incidents. If it was due to low margins, gun owners would have grumbled but not been so angry at Dicks.

 

[VERT]

Still not sure what you are going on about here. How can gun stores survive almost exclusively on a low-margin product where a larger, more diversified retailer can't?

Dicks didn't get rid of guns because of low margin. They got rid of guns due to virtue signaling after a couple of shooting incidents. If it was due to low margins, gun owners would have grumbled but not been so angry at Dicks.

Local Gun Stores don’t carry the overhead of a store like Dicks. Most are in smaller buildings, or not off the main drag. The owners also work there and manage the store. Completely different then a large sporting goods store. Trust me Dicks can make more money selling Nikes then Rugers.

I call partial BS on virtue signaling. If guns made Dicks and WalMart a bunch of money they would still be selling them. Obviously the small loss in business was considered an OK cost for the positive PR they thought they would get. And to be honest I’m not 100% sure it wasn’t a fine move on their behalf. We INGO folks tend to have a bias, there are a lot more people who really dislike firearms then what we care to admit.

 

[Ingomike]

In all truth, Dicks is getting killed by Amazon, they definitely were virtue signaling for the soccer moms that are their customers. But those moms are moving to the convenience of Amazon.

 

[Vigilant]

Local Gun Stores don’t carry the overhead of a store like Dicks. Most are in smaller buildings, or not off the main drag. The owners also work there and manage the store. Completely different then a large sporting goods store. Trust me Dicks can make more money selling Nikes then Rugers.

I call partial BS on virtue signaling. If guns made Dicks and WalMart a bunch of money they would still be selling them. Obviously the small loss in business was considered an OK cost for the positive PR they thought they would get. And to be honest I’m not 100% sure it wasn’t a fine move on their behalf. We INGO folks tend to have a bias, there are a lot more people who really dislike firearms then what we care to admit.

Nikes have a suck margin too, their money comes from socks and other little 250% margin ****.

 

[bwframe]

What you cannot measure with Dick's, is how their sales overall are effected by their running off the 2A crowd. We don't just not shop there for their absence of guns, we refuse to buy anything there.

Even the self centered among us, who would put sale price ahead of ALL gun owners better interests, have come around to discover no sale pricing is worth supporting this anti-gun business.