DICK'S Sporting Goods

Growing up in the Triple Cities, DICK'S Sporting Goods has always been a favorite place to go for any sports or outdoor activity equipment. I can still remember going to DICK'S on Court St. back in 1980 with my friend Dan Mullins to get Cross Country sneakers. It was just a short walk from North High and it was kind of fun to see a lot of our friends / school athletes working there. No matter what you needed you went here first. The story of DICK'S Sporting Goods is just amazing. To think of how they grew to be the premier Sporting Goods store in America is one that tends to give us bragging rights as we see so many of their other properties across the country. Here's just a bit of their story...

DICK’S Sporting Goods was founded in 1948 when an 18-year-old Dick Stack was working at an Army surplus store in Binghamton, New York. An avid fisherman, Dick was approached by the store owner to come up with a list of products needed to get into the fishing tackle business. After Dick presented his suggestions, the owner told him he was a dumb kid and had no idea what he was doing. Dick was upset and promptly quit. He went to his grandmother’s house where he spent a lot of time as a kid and told her what had happened. Dick’s grandmother asked how much it would cost to build the store himself. Dick said it would cost $300. His grandmother then went to the cookie jar where she kept her life savings and gave him $300 and told him, “Do it yourself.” Dick used that money and his relentless work-ethic to open a bait-and-tackle shop in Binghamton. In 1952 Dick broadened his offerings and began to stock work clothes, sportswear, camping gear, and picnic supplies along with an expanded array of fishing tackle. Things were going pretty well so a second store was opened in Vestal in 1971. It wasn’t long before Dick’s son, Ed, joined the company on a full time basis. DICK'S was an incredible success with a great future. By the late 1970's, he expanded his product line to include much of what you’ll find at DICK’S Sporting Goods today. In 1984 a new chapter started for DICK'S Sporting Goods with Ed and his Siblings buying the company from Dad. They soon expanded the Product Lines further to include an even wider range of sports and outdoor equipment, athletic s apparel and footwear. There was no holding the company back now as store after store were opened all across the country. The growth became so fantastic that they had to start opening distribution centers to maintain & deliver their inventory. Always a part of the community, in 2011 DICK'S established the DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation with a mission to inspire and enable youth sports participation. By 2015, incredibly they opened their 500th store with their first Field & Stream opening in 2013.

Now celebrating their 75th Anniversary DICK'S Sporting Goods is known from coast to coast serving athletes and outdoor enthusiasts in more than 850 DICK’S Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy, Public Lands, Moosejaw, Going Going Gone! and Warehouse Sale stores, online, and through the DICK’S mobile app. DICK’S also owns and operates DICK’S House of Sport and Golf Galaxy Performance Center, as well as GameChanger, a youth sports mobile platform for live streaming, scheduling, communications and scorekeeping. They can be seen everywhere from stores to a sports park and stadium in Colorado that bears their name, to even our own DICK'S Sporting Goods Open at En-Joie Golf Course. With its newest store opening up at the Oakdale Mall you just can’t help but have a sense of pride in the their long history and accomplishments!*

.… And it all began right here with a simple bait and tackle shop in Binghamton, New York.