170-year-old Dick’s Sporting Goods rival slashes half its stores

Dick's Sporting Goods has proven that big-box sporting goods and outdoor retailers can thrive in the digital era. The chain has succeeded by leaning into experiences, creating new store formats, and being selective about new locations.

"The strong numbers have been delivered in the same challenging market, facing all retail players. The difference is that Dick’s has a very clear strategy that is allowing it to circumvent some difficulties and to take market share from other struggling players,” GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders told Retail Dive.

Dick's has succeeded in a market that has been brutal to its rivals, with numerous chains, including Modell's, Bob's Stores, and Eastern Mountain Sports, closing entirely

Now, another major player in the space, Orvis, which was founded in 1856, has already begun the process of closing over half its stores.

Orvis blames tariffs for store closures

Orvis has been shrinking since 2024. It cut 8% of its corporate workforce in October 2024, followed by shutting down its catalogue business.

Beginning in late 2025, the chain started the process of shutting down over half of its 70 locations. The chain's President Simon Perkins, whose grandfather acquired the company 60 years ago, cited tariffs as forcing the closure in an emailed statement to Retail Dive.

“Like many in retail, Orvis’ business model faced a sizeable shift with the introduction of an unprecedented tariff landscape,” he said, adding, “To ensure a durable brand and model for decades to come, we are focusing on our core strengths and making the difficult but necessary decision to rescale the business by tightening our assortment and reducing our corporate store footprint.”

The chain plans to close 31 retail stores and five outlets by the end of the first quarter.

Here's why sporting goods chains have struggled

A McKinsey report from 2022, "Tackling inflation and margin pressure in the sporting goods industry," forecasted some of the troubles facing the sporting goods industry.

"Recent economic and geopolitical developments are becoming a serious concern for players across the industry. The concern facing many executives is whether inflation and weakening demand, alongside pressure on supply, represent the eve of a perfect storm and what can be done about it," the report shared.

REI CEO Eric Artz explained why his company made cuts in a note to staff following its layoffs in January 2024.

“While the U.S. as a whole has avoided entering a recession (by definition, two consecutive quarters of total U.S. market decline), outdoor specialty retail has experienced four quarters of decline — and that trend has been worsening,” he wrote.

In some cases, the chains are falling victim to cautious consumers.

“What we have noticed in the last 18 months is a price sensitivity among customers that we have never experienced before,” Jeff Carter, Director of Merchandising for Mast General Store, told Extend.com.

That's forcing retailers to rethink pricing, promotions, and product assortments.

It's also worth noting that while Dick's serves athletes, all sporting goods chains have likely lost some business from more casual customers to online retailers. I used to buy sneakers at sporting goods chains or sneaker stores, but as my athletic days are behind me, I tend to order sneakers from Amazon about half the time.

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Gartner Analyst Kassi Socha told Modern Retail that retailers in the outdoors space have been trying to decide how to move forward.

“A lot of outdoor retailers right now are in planning mode. They’re reevaluating everything from their loyalty programs to their omnichannel experiences to prepare and adjust for the future of what their retail sector looks like.” She also said athleisure and new activities such as pickleball continue to drive growth in the space, regardless of other shoppers who have held back.

Sporting goods and outdoor store closures since 2020

• Olympia Sports, a Maine‑based sporting goods chain founded in 1975, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced plans to close all of its remaining stores by the end of September 2022, ending nearly 47 years of business, according to data from PacerMonitor.
• Moosejaw (outdoor specialty retailer): Dick’s Sporting Goods closed most Moosejaw stores after acquiring the brand in 2023, and all remaining three stores shuttered in 2024 as the business was folded into Dick’s outdoor concept Public Lands, according to SGP media.
• Public Lands (Dick’s Sporting Goods outdoor brand): As of early 2025, the number of Public Lands stores dropped dramatically to about three locations from eight previously listed as Dick’s scaled back its outdoor footprint, shared Retail Dive.
• Bob’s Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports: Parent company Mountain Sports LLC filed for bankruptcy in June 2024 and announced plans to close all Bob’s Stores locations and liquidate assets during restructuring; EMS locations were reduced and reorganized under new ownership agreements, according to data from Stretto.
• Next Adventure (Portland outdoor retailer): Long‑standing local gear and specialty outdoor store chain announced closures of its shops, with initial plans to shut most locations by late 2025 amid owner retirement and business pressures, reported TheStreet.

Related: Iconic 51-year-old athletic clothing brand closing permanently

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