The doors opened this past weekend on the new outdoor retail concept by Dick鈥檚 Sporting Goods, Public Lands, led by industry veteran Todd Spaletto. The 50,000-square-foot store in Cranberry, Pennsylvania (a suburb of Pittsburgh) is located in a busy shopping area, sandwiched between a Best Buy and a Walmart. The weekend-long event kicked off bright and early on Friday morning with a team pep talk by the executive chairman of Dick’s, Ed Stack. President and CEO Lauren Hobart was also in attendance to lead the store’s team in a raucous pre-opening cheer (captured below) and to support the 100+ staffers who have been working for months in preparation of the grand opening.

鈥淧ublic Lands is an opportunity to reinvent the outdoor category, and now seeing it come to life, we could not be more excited about what Todd Spaletto and our team have put together,鈥� Hobart said. 鈥淲hether you are just starting to explore a new activity or are planning to climb to the highest heights, Public Lands will have what you need. And we鈥檙e proud that Public Lands is connected to the community, protecting our nation鈥檚 public lands, and making outdoor activity more inclusive.鈥�

Todd Spaletto was in attendance as well, touring guests around the sprawling store and leading the ribbon cutting ceremony with Hobart and Mark Thomas, president of Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, a nonprofit marketing group for economic development in the Pittsburgh region.

A Tour of Public Lands

鈥淚t鈥檚 fantastic to finally welcome explorers inside the store,鈥� Spaletto told OBJ while standing near the giant stone fireplace at the entrance this weekend. 鈥淓xplorers鈥� are customers in Public Lands parlance, while employees are referred to as 鈥済uides.鈥澛�

Spaletto toured OBJ around the store, pointing out some of the key concepts and features. He spoke a lot about what he calls “brand moments.

鈥淲e鈥檝e tried to create brand moments all throughout the store,鈥� Spaletto said, referring to the neatly merchandised brand-centric displays of familiar players like Patagonia, The North Face, Smartwool, Yeti, and Hydro Flask, interwoven with lesser known labels like Howler Bros., Free People, Alpine Design, Houdini, and Herschel.

The store is organized into 鈥渟hops鈥� around the perimeter, which feature different categories of gear鈥攃ooking, camping, footwear, climbing, fishing, and cycling among them鈥攚ith a large apparel section in the center. A 30-foot climbing wall lines the back of the store and a gear rental and repair shop occupies a large area near the checkout stations.聽

Spaletto pointed to the artwork hung throughout the space. 鈥淎ll of these photos were shot locally, which was really important to us as a way to welcome the local community and highlight the natural resources of the area,鈥� he said. Another way Public Lands is doing that is by supporting local food businesses and artists. There鈥檚 a section near the back that features local edibles such as honey, coffee, syrup, granola, salts, and pickles. One corner of the shop is dedicated to featuring local artists鈥� work.

Brittany Howard and Portugal. The Man Play at Opening Party

Throughout the weekend, customers roamed the parking lot, participating in games and challenges, scarfing down treats from the food trucks, and kicking back in NEMO camp chairs while listening to live music.

On Saturday night, a musical act featured two big names: Portugal. The Man and Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes.

鈥淭he energy with Brittany Howard playing with Portugal. The Man turned the parking lot into a vibrant outdoor festival,鈥� said Andrew Huynh, a public lands advocate and Pennsylvania native with a passion for fishing and the outdoors. “Brittany shared her authentic passion for fly fishing and access to our public lands for all. It was a fantastic set that rocked the house.”聽

The Core Mission of Public Lands Goes Beyond Retail

The core mission of Public Lands is plastered in big white block letters as you enter the store: 鈥渨e exist to celebrate and protect public lands for all.鈥澛�

鈥淲hat we mean by that is we want to celebrate the entire experience that comes with being in the outdoors,” Spaletto said. “Many of our most cherished memories come from what happens before and after the physical activity; it鈥檚 the campsites, art, music, food鈥攁nd the store is set up around those moments. We will protect public lands by advocating for and working to preserve our wild places through our give-back strategy, local partnerships with groups such as Allegheny Cleanways, and volunteer community hours working directly on outdoor restoration projects. And above all is our push for inclusivity. We believe that all skill levels, ethnicities, and preferences should experience the outdoors and we will be working with partners to promote that through products and services like rentals, classes, and events so people can try something new.鈥澛�

The Public Lands website has been up and running for a week or so, and Spaletto said that sales have been popping. But the site is not just about e-commerce. Much like REI鈥檚 website, Public Lands鈥� site features educational content, a docket of classes and volunteer opportunities, and plenty of calls to action for people to get involved with advocacy and conservation work.

For anyone interested in working at the first Public Lands location, the store is currently hiring and offering $500 signing bonuses. The second Public Lands retail location is slated to open in Columbus, Ohio, at the end of October. As yet, the company has not disclosed plans about any locations beyond these first two.

鈥淲e鈥檙e focused on getting these two stores and our website site up and running and learning from those experiences,鈥� Spaletto said.

Scenes from the Grand Opening

The first location of Public Lands is now open for business. Here’s a look inside.

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Back in early December 2020, Dick’s Sporting Goods announced that it would be launching a new outdoor specialty retail concept called Public Lands. Ed Stack, the outgoing CEO said that Public Lands would be “different than what you would see with REI” and “very different than what we do at Dick鈥檚 today.” But up until now, we didn’t know much more than that.

Except that outdoor industry veteran Todd Spaletto had been tapped as president of Public Lands. Spaletto, who sits on the board of Outdoor Industry Association and has held senior leadership positions at Wolverine Worldwide, The North Face, and JanSport, honored OBJ with his first interview at the helm of Public Lands.

Key topics covered:

• How will Public Lands fit into the specialty outdoor retail landscape?
• How will it be unique?
• How will it compare to REI and Dick’s Sporting Goods?
• How will it live up to its name?
• What brands will it carry?
• What is the e-commerce strategy?
• Will more stores be added?
• And more!

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In an internal memo circulated to employees this week, Dick’s Sporting Goods has announced that Todd Spaletto, the former group president of聽Wolverine Worldwide and global president of The North Face, has been hired as president of Public Lands, the new specialty outdoor chain Dick’s plans to launch next year.

In the memo, Dick’s confirmed that Spaletto, who departed from Wolverine in April, will be responsible for the development, launch, and growth strategy of Public Lands’ two initial locations, in Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio, tentatively set to open in late summer or early fall, 2021.

On a call with investors last week, the outgoing CEO of Dick’s, Ed Stack, said that Public Lands聽will be “different than what you would see with REI,” and will “carve out a different niche” in the outdoor space.

As the name implies, the new brand will focus on protecting public lands and advancing environmental protections as well as driving bottom-line growth for Dick’s. Encouraging youth participation in outdoor sports will also be a focus of the new project.

“At Dick’s, we’ve been very focused on our Sports Matter Foundation and how important we think it is that kids have an opportunity to get out and play,” Stack said on his investor call last week, referring to the company’s nonprofit that works to increase sports participation among children. “With the investment we’ve made in Sports Matter over the years, we’ve reached over 1 million kids and have given them the opportunity to continue to play sports. We hope with Public Lands we’re going to be able to impact another million over the next several years.”

Dick’s leadership has indicated that Spaletto will be instrumental in bringing outdoor industry expertise to Public Lands to help the project achieve its stated goals.

“Over the next several months, Todd…will work closely with leaders across the company to develop and implement the plans to support this important initiative,” the recently circulated company memo said. “Todd鈥檚 experience in and knowledge of the outdoor market will be invaluable in driving the company鈥檚 efforts in this space.”

国产吃瓜黑料 of his roles at The North Face and Wolverine, Spaletto’s 24 years of experience in the outdoor industry include three years as the vice president of sales for JanSport and two years as a national sales manager at High Sierra.

Just 48 hours into the job, Spaletto was unavailable for comment, but we look forward to sitting down with him in the near future to learn more聽about his new role and the direction of Public Lands.

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In a call with investors last week, the outgoing CEO of聽Dick’s Sporting Goods, Ed Stack, announced a new initiative for his company, set to begin in the latter half of next year. As early as August 2021, Dick’s plans to open聽two outdoor-only retail concepts, called Public Lands, in聽Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio. As the聽company’s current president, Lauren Hobart, transitions to the role of聽CEO in early 2021, Stack will shift his focus to spearheading the project and overseeing growth in a new category Dick’s plans to pursue next year and beyond: specialized, technical outdoor gear.

The new stores will move into two existing locations of Field & Stream, the hook and bullet arm of Dick’s with 23 stores across the U.S. The move aligns with the company’s gradual exit from the hunting space鈥攁 change that has accelerated since the聽Parkland, Florida, mass shooting in 2018. Immediately after that event, Dick’s stopped selling assault rifles at Field & Stream. Over the past two years, the company has downscaled its hunting departments at stores across the country.

“As we look to exit out of Field & Stream and the firearm business, one of the places where we think there’s a great opportunity is the outdoors,” Stack said on the call last week.

Stack said the new stores will be “different than what you would see with REI,” and that Public Lands plans to “carve out a different niche” in the space, though he didn’t specify exactly how the company will do that. He did make it clear that Public Lands will offer a different class of outdoor gear than what is currently found in Dick’s.

“It will be very different than what we do at Dick’s today,” Stack said. “Our camping category [at Dick’s] is a bit more backyard camping, if you will. This will be much more elevated. We think that the overlap between the products that we carry in this new concept and the products we carry in Dick’s will be somewhere around 20 percent, maybe a little bit less. But this will be more elevated equipment鈥攅levated price points, elevated brands, elevated service.”

Reaction from the Outdoor Retail Community

Some professionals in the outdoor industry are skeptical about the project’s potential, to say the least.

“To me, I see this as a large corporation taking advantage of short-term economic indicators,” said Rich Hill, president of Grassroots Outdoor Alliance. “Outdoor retail is much more than putting a good product on the shelf at a good price. It requires expertise. You need to know how to fit packs, where the local trails are, how to select boots for different people’s feet. Developing that expertise is step one. Opening a store should be the very last thing you do, not the first.”

Hill notes that this isn’t the first time Dick’s has tried to break into specialty outdoor retail. In 2004, the company acquired the now-defunct outdoor chain Galyan’s Trading Company. When Dick’s bought the company, it had 47 stores in 21 states. Now, it’s little more than a distant memory among retailers.

“The reason that Galyan鈥檚 failed is the same reason I think this new project is going to fail,” Hill said. “You need to understand outdoor to sell outdoor. I want to know what Dick’s is going to do differently this time. My hope is they鈥檙e treating this seriously and they鈥檙e committed to developing that expertise, but who knows.”

One of the new Public Lands stores will likely open in August of next year, followed by the second in October, Stack said, though he didn’t specify which is which, or give exact dates. He did say that part of the new stores’ mission will be to protect public lands and the environment, as well as to drive new bottom-line growth for Dick’s.

“We couldn’t be more excited about it and we’ll be happy to provide some more detail when we get [the stores] opened early next fall. But we think that there’s a real opportunity here for a real growth vehicle,” Stack said.

Hill says he’s waiting to see what the stores look and feel like before deciding whether independent retailers in Pittsburgh and Columbus have anything to worry about.

“It all comes down to the knowledge they bring. If I walk in there and say I鈥檓 going camping in 20-degree weather and they try to sell me a 20-degree sleeping bag, I’ll know for sure they鈥檙e going to fail,” he said.

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