Dick's Sporting Goods scores with omnichannel

Dick's Sporting Goods says its focus on omnichannel retailing is yielding fruitful results, as the company reported an increase in profit and sales for the second quarter.

Dick’s reported net income of $90.8 million, or 77 cents per share, up from $69.5 million, or 57 cents per share, a year ago. That beat Wall Street’s average EPS estimate of 75 cents. Net sales were $1.8 billion, up 8% from $1.7 million during second-quarter 2014. Same-store sales for Dick’s Sporting Goods rose 1.5%.

"We are pleased with our second quarter results. We delivered a double-digit increase in earnings by leveraging our omnichannel presence to generate profitable revenue growth and meaningful margin expansion," said Edward W. Stack, chairman and CEO. "We are seeing the benefits of our key growth pillars, as we continue to open very productive stores while winning online."

Dick's said E-commerce penetration for the second quarter was 7.3% of total net sales, compared to 6.3% during the second quarter of 2014.

The company said it is partnering with two top brands to open specialty stores-within-a-store at select Dick’s locations. In a conference call with investors, Dick’s CEO Ed Stack said the retailer will pilot stores-within-a-store from Nike Air Jordan and Polo Sport later this year and next year.This fall, Dick’s plans to open branded Nike Air Jordan shops in 10 locations, and also open 75 branded Polo Sport shops in 2016. Both rollouts are considered tests and may lead to further expansion in 2016 and 2017 depending on their performance.

In the second quarter, the company opened seven new Dick's Sporting Goods stores, one new Field & Stream store and closed three Golf Galaxy stores, as these leases expired. As of Aug. 1, the company operated 619Dick'sSporting Goods stores in 46 states, with approximately 33.1 million square feet, 75 Golf Galaxy stores in 29 states, with approximately 1.4 million square feet and 12 Field & Stream stores in seven states, with approximately 0.6 million square feet.

Dick’s raised its full-year 2015 EPS guidance to $3.13 to $3.21.