A few years ago Walmart went on a shopping spree.
The retailer looked to beef up its digital-portfolio buying, and in 2016 and 2017 it made a number of major purchases including Bonobos, Modcloth, and Shoes.com. It most famously spent $3.3 billion to buy Jet.com, a fledgling Amazon competitor created by the serial entrepreneur Marc Lore.
DON'T MISS: Another popular U.S. retailer files an unexpected bankruptcy
On one hand, those deals succeeded simply because Lore joined Walmart (WMT) -) and forced it to spend billions on its digital infrastructure. That ultimately put it on its current path, where it's competitive with Amazon, (AMZN) -) when it easily could have fallen far behind.
The price, however, was steep. Walmart closed Jet.com in 2020 and sold Bonobos at a steep discount this year. Walmart sold Shoes.com in 2020 and got rid of ModCloth in 2019.
It's hard to see much good that came out of Walmart's buying spree, aside from Lore working for the chain for a few years. The retailer also bought Moosejaw, an outdoor retailer, in 2017, holding onto the brand until this year, when it sold it to Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) -) for an undisclosed sum in February.
At the time of the purchase, Dick's said it planned to maintain the Moosejaw brand, but there were signs that that may not be for long. The sporting-goods retailer placed Moosejaw under its Public Lands brand with the new acquisition's chief executive reporting to Public Lands' president.
It always seemed like an uncomfortable marriage, and after about seven months of owning Moosejaw, Dick's has decided to make some major changes.
Image source: TheStreet/ Out&Back
Dick's is mostly eliminating Moosejaw's stores
The relationship between Dick's two outdoor brands always seemed likely to end badly. Now, the two brands are being consolidated under Public Lands and 11 of the Moosejaw chain's 14 stores will be shuttered.
"The stores will close by February next year, as will Moosejaw’s headquarters in Madison Heights, Mich., as Dick’s integrates its Moosejaw and Public Lands operations under one team," Retail Dive reported.
Dick's did not answer the website's question about whether the company would be laying off Moosejaw workers or offering them other positions at the retailer.
The retailer will continue to operate the Moosejaw website.
“This move supports our business optimization efforts and will allow us to operate more efficiently, quickly leverage best practices across our outdoor business and drive our long-term success," a Dick’s Sporting Goods spokesperson said in an email to Retail Dive.
"We look forward to continuing to provide outdoor enthusiasts great gear and service on Moosejaw.com, PublicLands.com and at Moosejaw and Public Lands retail locations,”
Dick's has been an unlikely retail winner
Dick's has been surprisingly strong even as it competes with Walmart and Amazon. The company reported strong second-quarter results, about which CEO Lauren Hobart elaborated in a call with analysts,
"Total sales increased 3.6% to $3.22 billion, and our [comparable] sales increased 1.8%, driven by robust transaction growth," she said. "We continue to gain market share, demonstrating that athletes throughout the country are increasingly relying on Dick's to meet their needs."
Hobart did make clear that the company was continuing to evolve in a competitive environment.
"We're doing extensive work to determine how best to optimize our business going forward to capture that growth," she said.
"This includes better aligning our talent, organizational design, and spending in support of our most critical strategies, while also streamlining our overall structure and costs."
Receive full access to real-time market analysis along with stock, commodities, and options trading recommendations. Sign up for Real Money Pro now.
