Expanding focus helps retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods navigate a year of dynamic sales

A closer look at power players in leisure on the 2024 Top 100 Retailers list
Sandy Smith
NRF Contributor

The National Retail Federation’s annual Top 100 Retailers list ranks retailers based on U.S. sales. Walmart continues to hold the top spot, followed by Amazon, Costco, Kroger and The Home Depot. This series takes a look at power players in select retail categories. Power players are retailers in this Top 100 list with 2023 U.S. sales equal to or greater than 10% of the sales of the category leader.

2024 Top 100 Retailers List

NRF's Top 100 Retailers ranks the industry’s largest companies according to sales.

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One thing is clear in the leisure category: Those who expanded their view of relaxation succeeded as the passion for the great outdoors subsided. Those who bet that pandemic-era camping and related activities would continue were left up a creek without a paddle.

“If they’re narrowly focused on outdoor activities, they took a hit,” says David Marcotte, senior vice president of global retail and technology for Kantar, which compiles data for the National Retail Federation’s annual ranking of the industry’s 100 largest retailers by domestic retail sales.

For retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods, which has a “very broad portfolio,” growth was solid at 5.1%. Other retailers, like Camping World, saw sales slip — down 10.6%. It dropped 11 spots on the rankings after 2022, where its growth was 0.8%.

It was not just the breadth of Dick’s portfolio, however; it was also its focus, Marcotte says. Competitor Academy Sports also saw a slight decline, down 3.7%. Both Academy and Dick’s have a wide array of products in competitive sports. Dick’s edged ahead in one area, Marcotte says: golf.

That, Marcotte posited, might be capturing those who work from home who are now able to “play golf three times per week.”

Others in the leisure category saw more modest increases, perhaps as a result of less free time. Bass Pro Shops saw gains of 2% while Hobby Lobby saw a 2.9% increase — respectable, but nothing like the 2022 increase of 9.1%.

 

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