A CEO TAKES A STAND

In a time of seemingly unrelenting mass shootings, American corporations, especially retailers, have struggled to respond. In September, 145 CEOs signed a letter to the U.S. Senate demanding tougher background checks and better red-flag laws to deny guns to potentially dangerous individuals. Ed Stack of Dick’s Sporting Goods was one of those CEOs. But Stack was already far ahead of his peers. After 17 students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, Stack led the company to decide to permanently remove assault rifles from its 850 stores, which include Dick’s, Field & Stream, and Golf Galaxy. It has also stopped selling guns of any sort to anyone under 21 years of age. These policies would cost Dick’s some $250 million in sales as some outraged customers boycotted the store. But Stack, a gun owner, never looked back. Sales have since rebounded, and the company is on the way to revenue of about $9 billion this year. In his book, It’s How We Play the Game, Stack takes readers through the days following Parkland, and subsequent decisions to back away from parts of the gun business as Dick’s business evolved.

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