Dick's Sporting Goods To Acquire Moosejaw From Walmart

In a bid to gain a better share of the multi-billion-dollar outdoor market, Dick's Sporting Goods has agreed to buy the outdoor retailer Moosejaw from Walmart in a deal that will begin in the near future. 

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In order to avoid any misunderstandings, the cost of the deal, which is expected to close in March, has not been disclosed. Under then-e-commerce president Marc Lore, Walmart acquired Moosejaw in February 2017 for $51 million. 

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With this acquisition, Dick's has now diversified into the outdoor market and has developed its e-commerce business after the launch of Public Lands in 2021, which has a brick-and-mortar focus that will help grow its presence in the outdoor market.

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While Americans were stuck at home during the Covid pandemic, they rushed outside hiking, boating, biking, and taking part in other activities that they considered safer than dining at restaurants or traveling to other places.

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A study conducted by Penn State, released last year, found that outdoor recreation was up by 20% in the U.S. during the pandemic, resulting in a new generation of outdoor enthusiasts emerging in the country. 

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It is Dick's objective to turn those outdoor fans into customers, and it sees a huge opportunity in the overall market overall, which is not crowded and is estimated to be worth about $40 billion.

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Although Moosejaw has a handful of brick-and-mortar stores in the Midwest and near the Great Lakes, the company is primarily a web-based company that has been operating since 1992.

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It is expected that Dick's will be able to grow its e-commerce channels as a result of the acquisition of Moosejaw. Aside from getting access to the retailer's loyal customer base, Dick's is also set to benefit from the retailer's vendor relationships. 

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“Moosejaw has made an outstanding contribution to the outdoor industry over the past 30 years and we look forward to sharing insights and learning from one another as the industry continues to grow,” said Todd Spaletto, President of Public Lands and a Senior Vice President at Dick’s. 

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“Millions of Moosejaw's loyal customers deserve a compelling experience and an expanded product assortment,” he said. 

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Under the leadership of Lore, who founded Jet.com, Walmart purchased Moosejaw in 2017 as part of its efforts to expand its online presence.

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Moosejaw was one of a number of digitally native brands that Bare Necessities picked up under Lore's leadership and later sold to the mega-retailer, along with Shoes.com, ModCloth, and Shoes.com. In the year 2021, Lore left Walmart.

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“I am pleased to announce that Moosejaw is joining the Walmart family in order to further expand our assortment and expertise in the specialty outdoor category, as well as make Moosejaw more accessible to more customers. Walmart has grown from 70 million items to hundreds of millions of items since it acquired Moosejaw,” a Walmart spokesperson told Trade Algo in an interview. “In spite of Moosejaw's standing as a standalone company, Walmart's scale and reach helped propel the Moosejaw Madness campaign in spite of the fact Moosejaw operated as a standalone company."

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Eoin Comerford, the CEO of Moosejaw, will report directly to Spaletto after the deal closes. It is expected that the company will continue to operate independently in the future.

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Comerford said in a statement, "Dick's also sees the outdoors as a huge opportunity to get more people into the outdoors, as Moosejaw does," he said. "Together, we will offer outdoor enthusiasts from beginners to experts a variety of channels and locations across the globe."

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