Supply chain problems are easing say big US tackle retailers

Three of America’s largest suppliers of fishing tackle are optimistic that supply chain problems are on the mend.

Dick’s Sporting Goods, Big 5 Sporting Goods and Academy Sports + Outdoors all saw inventories down in double digits in the last quarter, but, according to SBG Executive, they all see an improving situation.

Big 5 reported a 19.2% decline in inventory, which was reflected in its 10.5% same-store sales increase compared to the fourth quarter in the previous comparable period. Steve Miller, President and CEO, said that it was still chasing stock with efforts slowed by significant supply chain disruption. “We are getting the inventory. We couldn’t be generating positive sales without it. But it has been an uneven flow in several categories. Whether its factory issues, material shortages, vessel issues or certainly significant issues getting products through ports, we see deliveries that are later than ideal. We are working hard with our vendors and managing through this and optimistic that conditions will improve over the coming months.”

Lee Belitsky, EVP and CFO at Dick’s Sporting Goods, added: “Our inventories are a bit lower than we would like them to be, but it looks like the supply chain issues over the last couple of weeks have got better. They had been trending worse for a while, but it seems like what we see in Asia is catching up. The ports are getting better in the US and we are in a good inventory position at this point. We do not see inventory as an impediment to doing the business we need to do over the next couple of months.”

Steve Lawrence, EVP and CMO at Academy Sports + Outdoors, said the business was in a strong inventory position for Spring. “Our buying team pushed hard to accelerate receipts prior to the Chinese New Year. While there continues to be ongoing challenges in the supply chain in securing containers and cargo space, our strong vendor partnerships, both domestically and overseas, have allowed us to successfully navigate through them. As a result, we should be in the best inventory position we have been in over the past year by the end of Q2.”

Picture: SBG Executive