Dicks sporting goods
Kingsport is finally getting a dicks sporting goods store, johnson city also, now i dont have to go to mahoneys
Don't get too excited unless you like low line Kelty packs, and 8 pound Columbia and Slumberjack sleeping bags. We used to have Galyan's here and Dicks bought them. Dick's sucks.
Midway Sam
AT Section Hiker
"Adventure is not outside man; it is within." ~ Georg Eliot
No, don't pussyfoot around the issue. Tell us how you really feel about Dicks.Originally Posted by Midway Sam
They are ok for somethings, but not others... I found a great pair of TNF fleece pants on the clearance rack last month... New $55, sale, $10.50. Great for wearing around the house in the winter!
Also got my Nite-Ize for my hammock there, when no one else carried them...
~If you cant do it with one bullet, dont do it at all.
~Well behaved women rarely make history.
We are getting a Dick's here as well. I have been there to buy weight lifting equipment for he-dino and to buy some sports equipment for the grandkids, but they really don't have much of anything for backpackers. Their camping line is for hunters and car / boat campers mostly. No smartwool socks, no superfeet insoles, and a very limited selection of appropriate tents / sleeping bags / pads / gear. Dick's isn't a backpacking outfitter by any means - it is a generic sports gear outlet.
Thats so true....I at first thought i had found a backpacking outfitter when i first moved south at Dicks, but was disappointed. But, they did provide me with some running gear and paintball equipment that i needed! So i guess I can't complain really!
I got a heck of a deal on a new deer rifle last year. They aint all bad...
~If you cant do it with one bullet, dont do it at all.
~Well behaved women rarely make history.
Don't get too excited...As it says its sporting goods. I only been in one Dicks, down in Knoxville. It is pretty similiar to Knoxville Sports / Sports Unlimited before it got bought out. Its mainly your traditional sporting good equipment. Baseball, football, bikes, guns, excercise equipment, midline camping/hiking equipment like any other retailer. A lot of it was stuff you can find at Target and WalMart, cheap stuff thats been marked up.Kingsport is finally getting a dicks sporting goods store, johnson city also, now i dont have to go to mahoneys
I am just hoping the rumors of Mast General coming to Kingsport/Johnson City are still in works. Because I found my Kelty pack at Mast 25 percent less than Mahonneys. And Mahonneys is a scrooge when it comes to discounts. First couple times this year, I was able to just say i was with the Eastman Club, and i got my discount. Since then, I have been asked to show them some ID for the club.
I have gone up to Mtn Sports Ltd., and I found some of their Keltys and water gear 10-20% less than Mahonneys. Mt Rogers is always a deal.
''Tennessee Viking'
Mountains to Sea Trail Hiker & Maintainer
Former TEHCC (AT) Maintainer
Where I live, the local stores for camp shopping are, in order of useful gear for me:
Walmart
Dicks
Kmart
Dollar Store
Target
CVS
I recently made the pilgrimage to REI in Reading, Mass. Nice store, but I was disappointed in how few ultralight packs were in stock.
I've bought all of my hiking shirts at Dicks. However, I haven't seen much in the way of a good base layer at any of the local stores. 'Round these parts, all men's underwear is made of cotton. I may try the local ski shop, when the season hits.
Dollar store was good for socks, pouches of tuna, windshield shade sleeping pads.
Given a choice, I'll buy at a local specialty shop over a big box store. I'll buy anywhere locally over a web shop. I'd rather buy from the manufacturer on the web, instead of Amazon.
If all else fails, I'll google what I want and order online.
Id try the ski shop now, before it becomes "in season" and the price goes up...
~If you cant do it with one bullet, dont do it at all.
~Well behaved women rarely make history.
I got my Merrells at Dicks up here. Of course, it went like this:
20 minute wait...
Me: Could I get a pair of New Balance 810s in 10 please?
Clerk: Huh?
Me: New Balance 810s in size 10.
Clerk: What color?
Me: You only carry them in one color.
20 minutes pass...
Clerk: Here you go (hands me New Balance 461 size 13 in black leather)
Me: Could I speak to a manager please?
Clerk: Sure!
20 minutes pass...
Manager: How may I help you (direct eye contact and smug smile)
Me: (recounts previous hour in footwear dept while manager is a mannekin, doesn't break eye contact or change facial expression... or blink).
Manager: (without moving) We're out of that item, may I suggest Merrell MOAB Ventilators in a 9 1/2? The run a little large. Sorry we only have them in Walnut...
Me: Wow, you know your inventory, you should work in footwear.
Manager: I started at Dicks in footwear 3 months ago, it's the reason I'm on Prozac.
I swear she was either on a high dose of Prozac or was a Stepford Wife. I bought the shoes AND a Coleman Tioga 3 tent on sale.
Stepford Wife!! thats classic!!
~If you cant do it with one bullet, dont do it at all.
~Well behaved women rarely make history.
Yeah I respect anyone who can float on that heavy a cushion of anti-depressant and still be high-functional...
He mentioned Dick's. And then something about sucking.
Dick's is good for some stuff. They carry a couple of decent stoves like the Pocket Rocket, and a couple others that are common for backpackers. Plus they carry the canister fuel cheaper than anywhere else I have seen. They have those 3 packs of Outdoor Research Helium stuff sacks that I love. Nice selection of headlamps and flashlights. Thay have platypus bladders, nalgene bottles, and nalgene containers. They also have water purification tablets and filters. So they don't have a lot of the high end specialty gear like REI, but they have a lot of the small stuff. The stuff that isn't worth a 30 minute drive or more to REI for. About 1/3 of my gear for my thru next year came from Dicks.
Sadly, the only local one I know of is closed for business until it snows. It's really more likely that I'll order some silks online from www.wintersilks.com or http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=40252 and catch the ski shop at the end of the season when they want to unload stock.
I worked for about a year and a half at Dick's almost 20 years ago, just when they were starting to make their foray into Western NY. This was when they were still located in HQ'd in Binghamton NY.
They had a very close association with Eureka and Camptrails (also then out of Johnson City/Binghamton).
Mr Stack's(Dick) son Ed, was taking over then and it was still a great place to work. They had a code LARCHMOUNT whose letters stood for 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0. respectively. On the price tags, under the price you would see the letters, so if the price was $79.99, you might see RUOL and you knew the store cost was then $38.71. Employee cost was 10% above the store price. It was not only a great deal, but you also got the opportunity to have pro-deals.
I got a lot of gear back then from MSR, Kelty, Eureka, Coleman, Cascade, Backpacker's pantry Alpineaire, Jansport and other manufacturers at very steep discounts.
Back to the subject though. Dick's lost it's touch when it went major, Moved to Pittsburgh and Ed sold out most of the company. I still go in there for a few items, but try to avoid them.
Dicks did try a foray into high end gear around 1997-98. They went whole hog on TNF and Lowe Alpine (LA). They mad massive purchases. I still chuckle about it, because for the next two years all you saw were the big TNF and LA displays in their stores with dwindling merchandise first current, then one year old and then 2 years old... At some point they realized they couldn't compete with the higher end gear stores and got out of that business and also apparently cut their ties with Eureka (Johnson Camping/Johnson Worldwide) and started selling low end camping gear from "Rokk" alongside MSR, Coleman, Kelty and others.
Last edited by Toolshed; 09-08-2007 at 10:01.
.....Someday, like many others who joined WB in the early years, I may dry up and dissapear....
Before I would go to a Dicks or a Walmart looking for something
specifically hiking related I find it SO MUCH EASIER to shop at
Campmor or REI or GOOGLE up what I am looking for.
In just a day or two a big brown truck arrives and the nice
person driving it actually lays it at my door without me ever
leaving the house!! What a great system we have!!
Who needs anything else?
Oldfivetango
Keep on keeping on.
Well, if I know exactly what I need, O5T's system works. But for some things - packs and shoes come immediately to mind - I need to try them on and wear them a bit. I also have gone to my local outfitters (we are blessed with two great and one good outfitter within 20 miles) to get something and seen something even better while there. Long live the local outfitter.
Just came back from Mt. Rogers a few minutes ago.......... Best deal overall in the Tri- Cities............ Mt. Sports and Mahonneys have always been sub par when it came to pricing/discounts, even years ago. The stores are larger but when you take away all non- backpacking gear and clothing, you are left with over-priced, over-weight gear sold by unqualified, misinformed sales staff caught up in their off campus ETSU social moment.
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