Dick's Sporting Goods To Launch Women's Boutiques Branded As Chelsea Collective

Dick's Sporting Goods is "looking to broaden its appeal to women as it opens a concept store targeting a hot fashion trend in athletic apparel, a move that highlights the company's larger push to grow revenue outside of its core business," according to Chris Fleisher of the PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW. Dick's yesterday announced that it is "starting a 'speciality women's fitness and lifestyle boutique' called Chelsea Collective." The first two Chelsea Collective stores "will open in August," with one near Pittsburgh and one in northern Virginia. They will be "operated as 'small boutique shops' featuring footwear, equipment and beauty products and located in malls known for high-end retail and specialty stores." Dick's has been "giving more attention to women's apparel, dedicating more floor space and introducing its own brand of workout clothes for women, Calia, which is promoted by country music star Carrie Underwood." Calia will be "a featured brand in Chelsea Collective stores." While the company's "core business is as a general sporting goods retailer," it has "catered to other specialized markets through standalone locations such as Golf Galaxy and Field & Stream." It had "92 such specialty stores in the first quarter this year, up from 84 a year ago." Imperial Capital analyst John O'Neil said that Dick's is "chasing customers who may have never visited a Dick's store before." O'Neil: "It's not a sporting industry trend. It's a broad fashion trend, and it's seen as multi-year, here to stay" (PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 7/21). In Pittsburgh, Paul Gough noted the stores, "which will be owned and operated" by Dick's, are "named after the trendy Chelsea section" of N.Y. (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/20).