Moosejaw

to be acquired by Dick’s Sporting Goods

Outdoor gear and apparel retailer was purchased by Walmart in 2017

JAY DAVIS

Madison Heights-based Moosejaw will soon operate under a new giant umbrella.

Dick’s Sporting Goods on Wednesday announced it reached an agreement to acquire the outdoor gear and apparel retailer from Walmart. Walmart acquired Moosejaw in 2017 for $51 million.

e sale is expected to be completed in March, according to a news release.

Financial terms of the Moosejaw acquisition were not disclosed. Dick’s and Moosejaw declined to release any additional details on the deal.

Moosejaw CEO Eoin Comerford will stay on and report to Dick’s Senior Vice President Todd Spaletto, who is also the president of Dick’s outdoor brand Public Lands, the release stated.

In addition to its predominantly online sales, Moosejaw operates 13 brick-and-mortar locations in Michigan, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas and Missouri, including stores in downtown Detroit, Birmingham and Ann Arbor. It has 240 employees.

e acquisition of Moosejaw will expand Pittsburgh-based Dick’s outdoor portfolio. Dick’s (NYSE: DKS) launched specialty retailer Public Lands in 2021 with a goal of celebrating and protecting public lands for all, according to the release. Along with an online store, there are seven Public Lands retail locations — none in Michigan.

Dick’s noted in the release that Moosejaw “operates a highly successful e-commerce platform, has a loyal customer base, strong vendor relationships with leading outdoor brands and a passionate workforce.”

“We admire what Moosejaw has accomplished over the past 30 years as leaders in the outdoor industry and look forward to the opportunity to share insights and learn from one another,” Spaletto said in the release.

“We believe there’s potential to grow the Moosejaw business and provide compelling experiences and an expanded product assortment to its millions of loyal customers.”

Established in Binghamton, N.Y., in 1948, Dick’s Sporting Goods has more than 850 Dick’s Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy, Field & Stream, Public Lands, Going Going Gone! and Warehouse Sale stores and more than 50,000 employees. e retailer reported 2022 revenue of $12.12 billion.

Walmart in its most recent earnings report didn’t mention Moosejaw or Moosejaw.com speci cally, but said its e-commerce sales in 2022 increased by 17 percent.

Walmart spokesperson Jaeme Laczkowski said Walmart does not disclose brand sales gures. Moosejaw.com as recently as 2021 had revenue of $152.7 million, according to e-commerce insights website ecommercedb.com.

In 2018, the year after it bought Moosejaw, Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart launched an online “premium outdoor store” curated by Moosejaw that o ered high-end outdoor apparel. O cials from some of the featured brands asked that items be pulled from the site out of fear Walmart.com would bring down prices on their products, according to an Outside report.

Laczkowski in a statement said the retail giant is excited about the new opportunity Moosejaw has with Dick’s.

“Moosejaw joined the Walmart family to expand our assortment and expertise in the specialty outdoor category, and make Moosejaw accessible to more customers,” Laczkowski said. “Since acquiring Moosejaw, Walmart.com has grown from 70 million to hundreds of millions of items. While Moosejaw operated as a standalone business, it was able to leverage Walmart’s scale and customer reach to propel the Moosejaw Madness. We’re excited about this new opportunity for Moosejaw to reach even more athletes and outdoor enthusiasts in its mission to make the outdoors more inclusive.”

Comerford in a December interview with active lifestyle publisher SGB Media said in ation had pushed Moosejaw to push items through promotions.

“Macroeconomic pressures combined with unseasonably warm weather and bloated inventories create a highly promotional environment,” Comerford said in the interview. “We’ve been through these pressures in the past, but what’s different this year is that many brands’ own DTC (direct to consumer) businesses are driving the promotional level. As a retailer, we are left to match these discounts or maintain margins and lose sales.”

Contact: jason.davis@crain.com (313) 446-1612; @JayDavis_1981