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while some others in the sports industry haven't been is that we never fell in love with ourselves," said Stack. "We were constantly trying to innovate and change and stay ahead of the game." Other advice given by Stack included sticking to your vision when you're confident of the plan. He noted that many on Wall Street in pre-COVID days had serious doubts about the chain's mega House of Sport concept when it was first envisioned. Many were advising the chain to reduce square footage. Stack said, "We built these House of Sports stores, which are 120,000, 140,000 square foot stores with a field and exactly the opposite of what Wall Street wanted us to do. And now that they've seen what we've done and how this concept has come out, they love it. So, you've got to follow your own dreams and your own thoughts of what you need." Finally, Stack credited Dick's success to people. He shared, "Nobody can do it themselves. rough the years we've had so many great people who've come to work in the business. And we've got I think the best management team right now that we've ever had. Everything revolves around people." Stack's e Visionary award also recognized his efforts in "making a difference," including Dick's highly- profiled move in 2018 to no longer sell assault-style firearms as well as no longer sell guns to anyone under 21 years old following the Parkland, FL high school shooting. Stack said, "We knew that there was gonna be some real blowback and there was. But listening to those kids who survived Parkland, listening to those parents who lost a child and understanding that the system was absolutely broken, we knew we needed to stand up and say something." Other more purpose-driven steps include the formation of its Sports Matter Foundation in recognition of the elimination of sports programs in many public schools. And increasingly, the Dick's Sporting Goods Foundation is also supporting education, which Stack believes has a direct link to solving income inequalityproblems. "Most of everything we do around our company is really focused on kids," added Stack. "I really believe that our country's most precious natural resource is our kids. We need to invest more time and resources in their development because they really are the future." n "Why I think we've been successful while some others in the industry haven't been is that we never fell in love with ourselves. We were constantly trying to innovate and change and stay ahead of the game." running. pure and simple. Run Channel Perspectives Run Culture Run Shop Talk Material Matters Channel Influencers Consumer Survey SPRING 2024 ISSUE AD CLOSING: APRIL 2, 2024 runstylemag.com CONTACT INFORMATION Jeff Nott 516-305-4711 jnott@formula4media.com Sam Selvaggio 212-398-5021 sselvaggio@formula4media.com the quarterly magazine for run specialty.

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