SPORTSMAN'S WAREHOUSE HOLDINGS, INC.
For the period ended Feb 1, 2025. Filed Apr 2, 2025.
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FY2025 · Filed Apr 2, 2025
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Item 1. Business
Overview
Sportsman’s Warehouse is an outdoor sporting goods retailer focused on meeting the everyday needs of the seasoned outdoor veteran, the first-time participant and everyone in between. Our mission is to provide outstanding gear and exceptional service to inspire outdoor memories. We strive to accomplish this goal by tailoring our deeply curated merchandise assortment to meet the seasonal needs of our local markets, offering everyday value pricing and providing friendly support from our knowledgeable and highly trained employees, who we refer to as "outfitters". We also offer an e-commerce experience, extensive in-store events and educational programming. These core strategies help position Sportsman’s Warehouse as the “local outdoor experts” and the preferred place to not only shop, but to also share outdoor-based experiences in the communities we support and serve. We are working to grow our loyal customer base in existing markets, increase our omni-channel presence in both new and existing markets to capture new customers, and build our brand awareness as the local destination for hunting and fishing, which we believe will drive our growth and profitability.
Sportsman’s Warehouse was founded in 1986 as a single retail store in Midvale, Utah and has grown to 146 stores across 32 states. Today, we have the largest outdoor specialty store base in the Western United States and Alaska. Our stores range from 7,500 to 75,000 gross square feet, with an average size of approximately 37,000 gross square feet. Our store layout is adaptable to both standalone locations and strip centers. We believe it is less capital-intensive for us to open new stores compared to our principal competitors because our value engineered store layout requires lower initial cash investments to build out and our stores generally require less square footage than the stores of our large retail competitors. We also have a large assortment and offering of firearms available online for in-store purchase and buy-online-pickup-in-store. Together, these features and capabilities enable us to effectively serve markets of multiple sizes, from Metropolitan Statistical Areas (“MSAs”) with populations of less than 35,000 to major metropolitan areas with populations in excess of 1,000,000, while generating consistent four-wall adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“Adjusted EBITDA”), margins and returns on invested capital across a range of store sales volumes. For a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP, see“Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”
Our Competitive Strengths
We believe the following competitive strengths allow us to capitalize on the growth opportunity within the outdoor activities and sporting goods market:
Differentiated Shopping Experience for the Seasoned Outdoor Veteran, the First-Time Participant and Everyone in Between. We place great emphasis on providing an inviting and engaging store experience for customers of all experience levels. For the seasoned outdoor veteran, we offer a one-stop, convenient store layout that promotes “easy-in, easy-out” access to replenish supplies, learn about local conditions and test products. We also serve first-time participants and casual users who are interested in enjoying the outdoors but enter our store without a clear sense for the equipment needed for their chosen activity. Our highly trained outfitters, who often are local outdoor enthusiasts and users of the products we sell, engage and interact with our customers in order to educate them and equip them with the right gear. Our outfitters draw upon formal vendor sales training as well as first-hand experiences from using our products in local conditions. This selling approach allows us to offer a broad range of products and to deliver a shopping experience centered on the customer’s needs, which we believe results in increased customer loyalty, repeat visits and frequent referrals to other potential customers.
A customer’s shopping experience in our stores is further enhanced by a variety of helpful in-store and online offerings and features, including the use of technology to provide fishing reports and social media sharing with local market information for customers, access to hunting and fishing licenses, indoor test ranges for archery equipment and displays of customer-owned taxidermy. In addition, we host a variety of in-store programs (such as ladies’ nights and local events), contests (such as free-to-enter big-game trophy contests), thousands of educational seminars (such as turkey frying, outdoor cooking, and firearm operation and safety). These programs are all designed to help our customers connect with the outdoors and build the skills necessary to maximize enjoyment of their chosen activities. As a result, we believe our stores often serve as gathering spots where local enthusiasts can share stories, product knowledge and advice on outdoor recreation activities, which drives traffic and fosters a sense of community and customer loyalty.
Our in-store experience is further complimented by our e-commerce experience available on our website, sportsmans.com. We also offer the ability for our customers to buy our product on-line and pick up their order in any of our stores.
Comprehensive Locally Relevant Merchandise Serving the Needs of Outdoor Enthusiasts at a Compelling Value. We offer our customers an extensive and carefully selected assortment of branded, high-quality outdoor products at competitive prices. We accomplish this primarily in three ways:
Locally Relevant Merchandise: We carry approximately 25,000 stock-keeping units (“SKUs”) on average in a single store, out of Sportsman’s Warehouse’s total current offering of over 160,000 SKUs. Each store’s merchandise is tailored to meet local conditions and consumer demand, which takes into account seasonal and weather requirements, regional game and fishing species and key demographic factors, so that our customers have access to the appropriate product at the right time for their geography.
Breadth and Mix of Product Assortment: Our merchandise strategy is designed to serve a variety of purchasing occasions and user experience levels, from big-ticket items to consumables, and from first-time participants to seasoned outdoor veterans. We pride ourselves on carrying an extensive selection of branded good, better and best hard goods at everyday value prices. Approximately 46% of our unit sales and 20% of our dollar sales during fiscal year 2024 were consumables, such as ammunition, bait, cleaning supplies, food, certain lures, propane and reloading supplies. We believe our specially curated array of in-stock consumable goods appeals to a broad range of customers and drives repeat traffic as well as increased average ticket value. We also carry a large omni-channel hunting and shooting sports offering.
Strong Vendor Relationships: We believe our vendors find our brand-centric, high-service store concept to be unique among national specialty outdoor retailers. Our attractive store locations, consistent presentation of merchandise and thorough product training present a compelling opportunity for our vendors to offer their brands to local markets. As a result, we believe we are able to negotiate favorable terms with our vendors that are similar to those offered to our principal competitors that are larger in size. We share the benefits of these strategic vendor relationships with our customers through everyday value prices, enhanced access to certain products that are limited in production and special make-up products sold exclusively at Sportsman’s Warehouse.
Flexible and Adaptable Real Estate Strategy. We believe that our store model is a competitive advantage that enables us to better address the needs of markets of varying sizes and geographies. Our stores vary in size from approximately 7,500 to 75,000 gross square feet. We have had success with leasing existing sites, constructing new build-to-suit sites and purchasing existing stores and converting them to the Sportsman’s Warehouse brand. Our flexible store model permits us to serve both large metropolitan areas, like Phoenix, Arizona, and smaller MSAs, like Soldotna, Alaska, while generating consistent four-wall Adjusted EBITDA margins and returns on invested capital across a range of store sales volumes. In small- to medium-sized markets, we are often able to establish ourselves as a standalone destination for our customers; in larger markets, we have successfully leveraged existing infrastructure to open stores in shopping plazas near complementary retailers, drawing upon existing foot traffic. We believe our low-cost, flexible model allows us to access both large and small markets more economically than many of our peers.
We maintain a disciplined approach to new store development and perform comprehensive market research before selecting a new site, including partnering with specialized, third-party local real estate firms. We select sites using technology to create models and evaluate thousands of data points, including criteria such as local demographics, traffic patterns, density of hunting and fishing license holders in the area, abundance of hunting and fishing game and outdoor recreation activities, store visibility and accessibility, purchase data from our existing customer database and availability of attractive lease terms. We have established productive relationships with well-regarded commercial real estate firms and believe that we are a sought-after tenant, given the strength of the Sportsman’s Warehouse brand, the high volume of customers that visit our stores and our strong financial performance since becoming a public company.
Low Cost Operating Structure with Attractive and Replicable Store Economics. We strive to maintain a lower operating cost structure than many of our key competitors, which allows us to serve small- to medium-sized markets as well as larger MSAs. We achieve this through discipline and financial rigor around store-level expenses, real estate costs and corporate overhead. In addition, we utilize efficient, localized marketing campaigns and our “no frills” warehouse store layout helps us maintain comparatively low operating costs and provides us with the opportunity to achieve four-wall Adjusted EBITDA margins of 10% or more for stores in most new markets after the first 24 month period after opening the new store. Our typical new store requires an average net investment of approximately $2.9 million, consisting of capital investments, net of tenant allowances. In addition, we stock each new store with initial inventory at an average cost of approximately $1.8 million. We target a pre-tax return on invested capital after the first 24 month period after opening of over 40% excluding initial inventory cost (or over 20% including initial inventory cost). We currently plan to open one new store in fiscal year 2025 and we continue to evaluate our short-term strategy related to opening new stores. As of the end of fiscal year 2024, the majority of our stores that had been open for more than twelve months were profitable and those stores had an average four-wall Adjusted EBITDA margin of 10.0%. We believe this low-cost, capital-efficient approach also allows us to successfully serve markets that are not well-suited for the more capital-intensive store models of our key competitors. Approximately 63% of our markets currently lack another nationally recognized outdoor specialty retailer, which we believe is a result of these dynamics.
New Store Growth Opportunity within Existing and New Markets. As of February 1, 2025, we operated 146 stores across 32 states, primarily in the Western United States and Alaska. We believe our leadership position in the Western United States and our expansion in other geographical regions of the United States, combined with our existing scalable infrastructure, provides a strong foundation for further expansion within our core markets as well as expanding into new geographies.
Passionate and Experienced Management Team with Proven Track Record. We are focused on delivering an unsurpassed shopping experience to anyone who enjoys the excitement of the outdoors. This passion and commitment is shared by team members throughout our entire organization, from senior management to the outfitters in our stores. Our senior management team has an average of over 20 years of retail experience, with extensive capabilities across a broad range of disciplines, including merchandising, marketing and e-commerce, finance, compliance, store operations, supply chain management and information technology.
Our Growth Strategy
We are pursuing a number of strategies designed to continue our growth and strong financial performance, including the following:
Leveraging Our Omni-Channel Presence and Increasing Our Same Store Sales Growth. We are committed to leveraging our omni-channel retail presence and increasing same store sales through a number of ongoing and new initiatives, including (i) improving the customer experience on our website through continuous category optimization and personalization and product recommendations for online shopping, (ii) growing our consumer databases and leveraging them to drive revenue and the long term value of our customers, (iii) building depth and focus in our product assortment in stores, including locally curated brands and leveraging our e-commerce platform to increase the SKU count online (with the assistance of our vendor partners through drop ship and our Federal Firearms License (“FFL”) dealer partners), (iv) enhancing our brand awareness to be the local destination for hunting and fishing by leveraging our marketing platforms, creating unique online content using our outfitters and local influencers and providing exclusive online informational and education content, including news, buyer’s guide and how to’s, accessory finders, and wild game recipes, and (v) establishing Sportsman's Warehouse as the go-to authority in personal protection. Each of these ongoing and new initiatives is designed to foster additional shopping convenience, add deeper merchandise selection and provide more engaging product information to the customer. We believe these initiatives will continue to drive omni-channel traffic, improved conversion and increased average ticket value.
Continuing to Enhance Our Operating Margins. We believe our store base allows us to take advantage of economies of scale in product sourcing and leverage our existing infrastructure, supply chain, corporate overhead and other fixed costs. Furthermore, we expect to increase our gross profit margin by improving vendor terms with key suppliers, increasing sales of used firearms, selling more firearm service plans, and focusing on improved in-stocks for key items that customers expect to find daily.
Growing the Sportsman’s Warehouse Brands. We are committed to supporting our stores, product offerings and brand through a variety of marketing programs, private label offerings and corporate partnerships. Our marketing and promotional strategy includes coordinated digital and social media platforms, print, as well as our internal data base of loyalty customers. In-store, we offer a wide range of outdoor-themed activities and seminars, from turkey frying to firearm operation and safety. In addition, we sponsor community outreach and charity programs to more broadly connect with our local communities with the aim of promoting our brand and educating consumers.
Growing our Loyalty and Credit Card Programs. We offer both a loyalty program and co-branded credit card program to our customers. These programs allow our customers to earn points that can be redeemed for in-store credit through purchases at Sportsman’s Warehouse stores and through the use of the co-branded credit card for all daily purchases. We believe these benefits are key in helping us obtain and retain new customers. We plan to continue to invest in the marketing of these programs, in particular at the point-of-sale.
Expanding Our Store Base. Over the last three fiscal years, we have opened an average of eight stores per year. We plan to open one new store in fiscal year 2025 as we continue to re-evaluate our short-term growth strategy. Our current longer-term plans will continue to include expanding our store base to serve the outdoor needs of enthusiasts in markets across the United States. We believe our existing infrastructure, including distribution, omni-channel capabilities, information technology, loss prevention and outfitter training, is capable of sustaining our current growth plans without significant additional capital investment, although we may determine to invest in our existing infrastructure to prepare for future growth.
Our Stores
We operate 146 stores across 32 states as of February 1, 2025. Most of our stores are located in power, neighborhood and lifestyle centers. Power centers are large, unenclosed shopping centers that are usually anchored by three or more national supercenters, such as Target, Walmart and Costco. Neighborhood centers are shopping centers anchored by a supermarket or drugstore that provide convenience goods and services to a neighborhood. Lifestyle centers are shopping centers that combine the traditional functions of a shopping mall with leisure amenities such as pedestrian friendly areas, open air seating and inviting meeting spaces. We also operate several single-unit, stand-alone locations. Our stores average approximately 37,000 gross square feet.
The following table lists the location by state of our 146 stores open as of February 1, 2025:
| Number of Stores · Number of Stores | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 17 | New Mexico | 3 |
| Washington | 14 | North Carolina | 3 |
| Utah | 12 | South Carolina | 3 |
| Arizona | 10 | Kentucky | 2 |
| Colorado | 9 | New York | 2 |
| Oregon | 8 | Tennessee | 2 |
| Pennsylvania | 7 | West Virginia | 2 |
| Wyoming | 7 | Wisconsin | 2 |
| Florida | 6 | Arkansas | 1 |
| Idaho | 6 | Iowa | 1 |
| Alaska | 5 | Louisiana | 1 |
| Michigan | 4 | Minnesota | 1 |
| Nevada | 4 | Mississippi | 1 |
| Virginia | 4 | Nebraska | 1 |
| Indiana | 3 | North Dakota | 1 |
| Montana | 3 | Ohio | 1 |
Store Design and Layout
We present our broad and deep array of products in a convenient and engaging atmosphere to meet the everyday needs of all outdoor enthusiasts, from the seasoned veteran to the first-time participant. We maintain a consistent floor layout across our store base that we believe promotes an “easy-in, easy-out” shopping experience. All of our stores feature wide aisles, high ceilings, visible signage and central checkouts with multiple registers. Sportsman’s Warehouse stores, true to their name, are designed in a value engineered warehouse format that welcomes customers directly from or on the way to an outdoor activity. All of our stores also feature “store-within-a-store” concepts for certain popular brand partners, such as Huk, Ariat, Carhartt, Sitka, Costa, Leupold, Vortex Optics, Yeti and Christensen Arms, through which we dedicate a portion of our floor space to these brands to help increase visibility and drive additional sales.
Our stores include locally relevant features such as a large fishing board at the entrance that displays current fishing conditions in local lakes and rivers with coordinating gear in end-cap displays in the fishing aisles. We actively engage our customers through in-store features (such as sharing local fishing reports), various contests (such as free-to-enter fishing and hunting contests), and customer-owned taxidermy displays on the walls. We also host in-store programs (such as ladies’ night and local events) and a wide range of educational seminars (such as Dutch oven cooking and choosing the right binocular). Annually, we organize thousands of educational programs across our stores for the benefit of our customers. We believe these programs help us to connect with the communities in which we operate and encourage new participants to build the skills necessary to become outdoor enthusiasts and loyal customers.
The retail stores and the distribution center have loss prevention teams who monitor approximately 50 cameras at each store and 250 cameras at the distribution center. These cameras are observed locally and centrally at our headquarters in our dedicated surveillance room. Our systems are a key factor in our shrink rates of less than 1.5% and an important component of our comprehensive compliance program.
Expansion Opportunities and Site Selection
We have developed a rigorous and flexible process for site selection. We select sites for new store openings or store acquisitions based on criteria such as local demographics, traffic patterns, density of hunting and fishing license holders in the area, abundance of hunting and fishing game and outdoor recreation activities, store visibility and accessibility, purchase data from our existing customer database and availability of attractive lease terms. Our store model is adaptable to markets of multiple sizes, from MSAs with populations of less than 75,000 to major metropolitan areas with populations in excess of 1,000,000. We have been successful both in remodeling existing buildings and in constructing new build-to-suit locations.
Our store model is designed to be profitable in a variety of real estate venues, including power, neighborhood and lifestyle centers as well as single-unit, stand-alone locations. In small- to medium-sized markets, we generally seek anchor locations within high-traffic, easily accessible shopping centers. In larger metropolitan areas, we generally seek locations in retail areas with major discount retailers (such as Walmart), wholesale retailers (such as Costco), other specialty hardline retailers (such as The Home Depot) or supermarkets. As we continue to expand our store base, we believe that small- to medium-sized markets offer a significant opportunity. In these markets, we believe our store size, which is smaller than many of our national competitors, but larger than many independent retailers, enables us to find convenient, easily accessible store locations while still offering the broad and deep selection of merchandise that our customers desire. In addition, our store format and size allow us to open multiple stores within major MSAs, which gives our customers convenient, easy access to our products without having to travel long distances.
Members of our real estate team spend considerable time and utilize sophisticated tools in evaluating prospective sites before bringing a proposal to our Real Estate Committee. Our Real Estate Committee, which is comprised of members of our senior management, including our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Retail Officer, approves all prospective locations before a lease is signed.
Our typical store location ranges in size from 7,500 to 75,000 gross square feet. Our net investment to open a new store is approximately $2.9 million, consisting of capital investments, net of tenant allowances. In addition, we stock each new store with initial inventory at an average cost of approximately $1.8 million. After the first 24 month period after opening a new store, we target a four-wall Adjusted EBITDA margin of more than 10% and a pre-tax return on invested capital of over 40% excluding initial inventory cost (or over 20% including initial inventory cost). We currently plan to open one new store in fiscal year 2025 and we continue to evaluate our short-term strategy related to opening new stores.
Omni-Channel Strategy
We believe our website is an extension of our brand and our retail stores. The majority of our customers begin their shopping journey online, and our omnichannel marketing strategy reflects this reality. Our approach emphasizes customer engagement through their preferred digital marketing channels. Our website, www.sportsmans.com, serves as both a sales channel and a platform for marketing and product education, enabling us to connect more deeply with the outdoor community across all our localities. In addition to offering merchandise similar to what is available in our retail stores, our website provides a substantial amount of additional assortment. Regulatory restrictions create structural barriers to the online sale of certain products, such as firearms, ammunition, specific types of cutlery, propane, and reloading powder. Consequently, this portion of our business is more insulated from competition with online-only retailers.
We also provide our online customers with convenient omni-channel services. To ensure that our customers have access to our entire assortment of products available on the e-commerce website, our retail stores feature kiosks that allow customers to place orders for items that are available only on our website, out of stock or not regularly stocked. We view our kiosk offering as an important complement to our larger format stores, as well as a key differentiator and extension of our smaller format stores. Our in-store pickup offering allows customers to order products through our e-commerce website and pick up the products in our retail stores without incurring shipping costs. We believe our ship-to-store is a valuable service offering to customers, as well as a means to generate additional foot traffic to our retail stores. We also have the ability to ship-from-store to fulfill customer orders. This feature has allowed us to turn all of our retail stores into distribution centers, decreasing the time it takes to fulfill orders, and increasing our ability to leverage our inventory across our Company.
In addition, our website features local-area content, including fishing reports and event schedules, as well as online educational resources, including buyer’s guides, how to’s, tips, advice and links to video demonstrations on our dedicated YouTube channel. We are also highly engaged with hundreds of thousands of social media followers on our Facebook and Instagram pages. These platforms allow us to reach our customers more directly with targeted postings of advertisements and in-store events. We leverage technology that aggregates customer location, browsing behavior and purchase history to present a personalized shopping experience. We gather thousands of feedback data points near real-time from our customers and measure the customer satisfaction (“CSAT”) as an item of our performance measurement from various surveys on the website and leverage direct customer feedback to improve our online shopping experience. We believe our online educational resources and community outreach drive traffic to our website and retail stores, while improving user engagement as shoppers move from single-purchase users to loyal customers. We provide online customer service support and fulfill orders through our in-house distribution center and through select partner drop ship integration. In fiscal year 2024, our website received more than 112 million visits with e-commerce driven sales in excess of 20% of total sales, which we believe demonstrates our position as a leading resource for outdoor products and product education.
Our Products and Services
Merchandise Strategy
We offer a broad range of products at a variety of price points and carry a deep selection of branded merchandise from well-known manufacturers, such as Browning, Carhartt, Coleman, Columbia Sportswear, Federal Premium Ammunition, Honda, Johnson Outdoors, Crispi, Camp Chef, Shakespeare, Shimano, Smith & Wesson and Ruger. To reinforce our convenient shopping experience, we offer our products at everyday value prices. We believe our competitive pricing strategy supports our strong value proposition, instills price confidence in both our customers and our sales associates, and is a critical element of our competitive position.
We believe we offer a wider selection of outdoor hard goods than many of our competitors. We employ a good, better, best merchandise strategy, with an emphasis on “better” products that meet the needs of customers of all experience levels. We strive to keep our merchandise mix fresh and exciting by continuously searching for new, innovative products and introducing them to our customers. Our hunting and shooting department, which is strategically located at the back of the store, is a key driver of store traffic and one of the reasons for our high frequency of customer visits. We carry a large array of consumable goods, which includes ammunition, bait, cleaning supplies, food, certain lures, propane and reloading supplies. During fiscal year 2024, sales of consumable goods accounted for approximately 46.0% of our unit sales and 20.0% of our dollar sales. We believe the sale of consumables and replenishment items drive repeat traffic, with the majority of our customers visiting our stores multiple times per year (according to our internal surveys). During such visits, our customers frequently browse and purchase other items, including additional gear and accessories.
We also carry a variety of private label and special make-up offerings under the Rustic Ridge TM, Killik TM, Vital Impact TM, Yukon Gold, Lost Creek and Sportsman’s Warehouse brands as well as special make-up items through vendors such as Tikka, Weatherby, Camp Chef and various others. These products are designed and priced to complement our branded assortment, by rounding out the offering and ensuring customer choices for good, better and best within key product categories. During fiscal year 2024, private label offerings accounted for approximately 4.4% of our total sales with special make-up offerings accounting for an additional 2.5% of our total sales. This combined total of 6.9% compares to more than 20% for many of our sporting goods retail peers. We believe our private label and special make-up products are an important opportunity to drive sales and increase margins alongside our branded merchandise.
In addition to outfitting our customers with the correct gear, we provide our customers with value-added, technical support services, such as gunsmithing and firearm service plans. Our stores offer full-service archery technician services, fishing-reel line winding, scope mounting and bore sighting, and cleaning services. We also help participants enjoy the outdoors responsibly by issuing hunting and fishing licenses. We believe the support services provided by our highly trained outfitters differentiate us from our competitors, increase customer loyalty and drive repeat traffic to our stores.
Products
Our stores are organized into six departments. The table below summarizes the key product lines by department:
| Department | Product Offerings |
|---|---|
| Camping | Backpacks, camp essentials, canoes and kayaks, coolers, outdoor cooking equipment, sleeping bags, tents and tools |
| Apparel | Camouflage, jackets, hats, outerwear, sportswear, technical gear and work wear |
| Fishing | Bait, electronics, fishing rods, flotation items, fly fishing, lines, lures, reels, tackle and small boats |
| Footwear | Hiking boots, socks, sport sandals, technical footwear, trail shoes, casual shoes, waders and work boots |
| Hunting and Shooting | Ammunition, archery items, ATV accessories, blinds and tree stands, decoys, firearms, reloading equipment, and shooting gear |
| Optics, Electronics, Accessories, and Other | Gift items, GPS devices, knives, lighting, optics, two-way radios, and other license revenue, net of revenue discounts |
Each department has buying and planning teams that are responsible for monitoring product availability from vendors and sales volume within the department and across all stores. We actively monitor the profitability of each product category within each department and adjust our assortment and floor space accordingly. This flexibility enables us to provide customers with more preferred product choices and to enhance the profit potential of each store.
Hunting and Shooting has historically been the largest contributor to our sales. Hunting and Shooting department products are generally sold at significantly higher price points than other merchandise, but often have lower margin percentages. Fishing is our third largest category and we experienced sales growth in Fishing during fiscal year 2024. We believe Fishing, with its higher gross margins and appeal to a broad, growing demographic, represents one of our greatest areas of opportunity for growth.
The following table shows our sales during the past three fiscal years presented by department:
| Fiscal year Ended | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 1, · February 3, · January 28, | ||||
| Department | Product Offerings | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
| Camping | Backpacks, camp essentials, canoes and kayaks, coolers, outdoor cooking equipment, sleeping bags, tents and tools | 11.7% | 11.2% | 12.5% |
| Apparel | Camouflage, jackets, hats, outerwear, sportswear, technical gear and work wear | 7.5% | 8.8% | 9.3% |
| Fishing | Bait, electronics, fishing rods, flotation items, fly fishing, lines, lures, reels, tackle and small boats | 10.3% | 8.9% | 8.9% |
| Footwear | Hiking boots, socks, sport sandals, technical footwear, trail shoes, casual shoes, waders and work boots | 6.3% | 7.2% | 7.3% |
| Hunting and Shooting | Ammunition, archery items, ATV accessories, blinds and tree stands, decoys, firearms, reloading equipment and shooting gear | 57.4% | 57.4% | 54.9% |
| Optics, Electronics, Accessories, and Other | Gift items, GPS devices, knives, lighting, optics, two-way radios, and other license revenue, net of revenue discounts | 6.8% | 6.5% | 7.1% |
| Total | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | |
Camping. Camping represented approximately 11.7% of our net sales during fiscal year 2024. Our camping assortment addresses both the technical requirements of the heavy-use camper, including gear for long-duration or deep-woods excursions, as well as the needs of the casual camper. We offer a broad selection of products for multi-day back country use and also for weekend outings, including tents and shelters, sleeping bags, backpacks and backpacking gear (including camouflaged styles for hunting), generators for home and camp use, cooking and food preparation equipment (including stoves and extended-use coolers), and dehydrated foods. Our camping department also includes canoes, kayaks and a selection of recreational camping equipment for the family, including basic automotive accessories, camp chairs and canopies. Our camping department includes brands such as Alps Mountaineering, Big Agnes, Camp Chef, Coleman, Honda, Teton Sports, Rustic Ridge Tents and Lost Creek Coolers.
Apparel. Apparel represented approximately 7.5% of our net sales during fiscal year 2024 and includes camouflage, outerwear, sportswear, technical gear, work-wear, jackets and hats. We primarily offer well-known brands in our apparel department, such as Carhartt, Columbia and Sitka. We also intend to grow our private label apparel lines, including Rustic Ridge TMand Killik TM. Our apparel selection offers technical performance capabilities for a variety of hunting activities, including upland game, waterfowl, archery, big game hunting, turkey hunting and shooting sports. Performance attributes include waterproofing, temperature control, scent control features and visual capabilities, such as blaze orange and camouflage in a wide range of patterns. Outerwear is an important product category for customers who are fishing, hiking, hunting or marine enthusiasts. We further complement our technical apparel with an assortment of casual apparel that fits our customers’ lifestyles, including a variety of branded graphic t-shirts, and private label t-shirts.
Fishing. Fishing represented approximately 10.3% of our net sales during fiscal year 2024 and includes products for fresh-water fishing, salt-water fishing, fly-fishing, ice-fishing and boating. Our broad assortment appeals to the beginning and weekend angler, as well as avid and tournament anglers. In addition to lures, rods and reels, our fishing assortment features a wide selection of products in tackle management and organization, electronics, fly-fishing, ice-fishing and marine accessories sub-categories. We also provide fishing-reel line winding services in all of our stores and live bait in most of our stores. We offer products for boat care and maintenance, as well as safety equipment and aquatic products such as float tubes and pontoons. All of our stores also sell fishing licenses. Our fishing department includes brands such as Johnson Outdoors, Normark, Plano, Pure Fishing, RoundRocks Fly Supply Co., Orvis and Shimano.
Footwear. Footwear represented approximately 6.3% of our net sales during fiscal year 2024 and includes work boots, technical footwear, hiking boots, trail shoes, socks, sport sandals and waders. As with apparel, our footwear selection offers a variety of technical performance features, such as different levels of support and types of tread, waterproofing, temperature control and visual attributes. Our footwear department includes brands such as Crispi, Danner, Keen, Merrell, and Hey Dude.
Hunting and Shooting. Hunting and shooting is our largest merchandise department, representing approximately 57.4% of our net sales during fiscal year 2024. Products such as firearms, ammunition, firearm cleaning supplies, firearm safety and storage, and reloading products are typically key drivers of traffic in our stores. Our hunting and shooting merchandise assortment provides equipment, accessories and consumable supplies for virtually every type of hunting and shooting sport. Our expert technicians allow us to effectively support our hunting assortments for the avid hunter, shooter and archery enthusiast. Our merchandise selection includes a wide variety of firearms designed for hunting, shooting sports and home and personal defense, including air guns, black powder muzzle loaders, handguns, rifles and shotguns. We carry a wide selection of ammunition, archery equipment, dog training products, hunting equipment, reloading equipment and shooting accessories. Our hunting and shooting department includes brands such as Federal Premium Ammunition, Hornady, Browning, Ruger, Smith & Wesson and Winchester.
Optics, Electronics, Accessories and Other. Our optics, electronics, accessories and other department represented approximately 6.8% of our net sales during fiscal year 2024. This department supplements our other equipment departments with complementary products, such as optics (including binoculars, spotting scopes and rangefinders), GPS devices and other navigation gear, two-way radios, specialized and basic cutlery and tools, including hunting knives, lighting, bear spray and other accessories. Our optics, electronics and accessories department includes brands such as Garmin, Leupold, Swarovski Optik and Vortex Optics. Our other department includes miscellaneous products and services.
Loyalty and Co-Branded Credit Card Programs
We have a loyalty program through which our customers are able to earn “points” towards Sportsman’s Warehouse gift cards on most of their purchases. The program is free to join and accepted both online and in-stores for purchases and the use of redemption cards. As of February 1, 2025, we had more than 4.9 million participants in our loyalty program and approximately 53% of our revenue is generated from our loyalty customers.
Customers may obtain a loyalty program card when making a purchase in-store or online. After obtaining a card, the customer must register on our website in order to redeem loyalty rewards. Customers earn one point for each dollar spent, with the exception of certain items, such as gift cards and fish and game licenses. For every 100 points accumulated, the customer is entitled to a $1.00 credit in loyalty rewards. Customers may choose to redeem loyalty rewards against purchases online and in-stores. The rewards points expire after 12 months of dormancy.
In addition, we offer our customers the multi-use Explorewards VISA Credit Card and the Explorewards Credit Card issued by Comenity Bank. Comenity Bank extends credit directly to cardholders and provides all servicing for the credit card accounts, funds the rewards and bears all credit and fraud losses. The Explorewards Visa Card allows customers to earn points whenever and wherever they use their card while the Explorewards Credit Card can be used only in Sportsman’s Warehouse stores and at Sportsman.com. Customers may redeem earned points for products and services just as they would redeem loyalty card points.
Sourcing and Distribution
Sourcing
We maintain central purchasing, replenishment and distribution functions to manage inventory planning, allocate merchandise to stores and oversee the replenishment of merchandise to the distribution center. We have no long-term purchase commitments. During fiscal year 2024, we purchased merchandise from approximately 1,100 vendors with no vendor accounting for more than 10% of total merchandise purchased. We have established long-standing, continuous relationships with our largest vendors.
Our sourcing organization is currently managed by our merchant team in our corporate headquarters. We also have field merchants that coordinate certain merchandising functions at the store level to provide a more localized merchandising model. To ensure that our product offerings are tailored to local market conditions and demand, our merchant teams regularly meet one-on-one with our vendors, and attend trade shows, review trade periodicals and evaluate merchandise offered by other retail and online merchants. We also frequently gather feedback and new product reviews from our store management and outfitters, as well as from reviews submitted by our customers. We believe this feedback is valuable to our vendor-partners and improves our access to new models and technologies.
Distribution and Fulfillment
We currently distribute all of our merchandise from our 507,000 square foot distribution center in Salt Lake City, Utah. We believe our current distribution center is sufficient to meet our needs for at least the next two years. The distribution center supports replenishment for all stores. We use preferred carriers for replenishment to our retail stores. The majority of our direct-to-consumer e-commerce orders are fulfilled by our 146 retail stores with additional orders fulfilled by our distribution center. We ship merchandise to our e-commerce customers via small parcel delivery. Our experienced distribution management team leads a staff of approximately 400 outfitters at peak inventory levels heading into the fourth quarter.
The distribution center has dynamic systems and processes that we believe can accommodate continued new store growth. We use Warehouse Management System (“WMS”) technology from Korber, to manage all activities. The system is highly adaptable and can be easily enhanced to accommodate new business requirements. For example, our WMS enabled us to support full omni-channel distribution under one roof by allowing us to comingle inventory to optimize space requirements and labor. Additionally, we have adopted customized radio frequency and voice-directed technology to handle the specific requirements of our operations. We have the capability to both case pick and item pick, which is designed to ensure that our stores have sufficient quantities of product while also allowing us to maintain appropriate in-stock levels. This balance allows us to effectively manage inventory and maximize sales in stores.
Marketing and Advertising
We believe, based on internal surveys, that the majority of our customers are male, between the ages of 35 and 65, and have an annual household income between $40,000 and $100,000. We also actively market to women and have expanded our product offerings of women’s and children’s outerwear, apparel and footwear to address rising participation rates in hunting and shooting sports, as well as overall outdoor activity.
Our primary marketing efforts are focused on driving additional consumers to the stores and increasing the frequency and profitability of visits by customers of all types. We employ a two-pronged marketing approach:
regional and national advertising programs; and
local grassroots efforts to build brand awareness and customer loyalty.
Our regional and national advertising programs emphasize seasonal requirements for hunting, fishing and camping in our various store geographies. Our marketing and advertising tactics continue to evolve, as we are moving away from traditional platforms, into a data-driven, digitally-centric approach. Our media investment will tactically be allocated against the entire marketing funnel, ensuring that we are creating personalized messaging to our core segments, across their respective customer journey. Measurement and attribution will be key in understanding how our marketing investment is driving growth to the business. Our total marketing expense for fiscal year 2024 was approximately $17.4 million.
The second prong of our marketing effort involves fostering grassroots relationships in the local community. Each Sportsman’s Warehouse store employs a variety of outreach tools to build local awareness. One key component to our local marketing strategy is hosting events throughout the year, targeting a variety of end-user customer profiles (such as hunters, campers, anglers and women). Our store base hosts or facilitates thousands of in-store and offsite seminars and events per year, such as ladies’ night, Waterfowl Weekend, Maintain the Terrain, and loyalty member events. Company representatives attend more than 600 events annually to provide support for these organizations and to solidify ties between their members and the Sportsman’s Warehouse brand. Such grass roots marketing campaigns and local outreach enable us to reduce our initial marketing spend in connection with new store openings. We believe that these initiatives are highly cost-effective tools to create brand awareness and engender a loyal community of local customers, as well as differentiate Sportsman’s Warehouse from its national competitors.
Information Technology
Business-critical information technology (“IT”) systems include the following: supply chain, merchandise, point-of-sale (“POS”), WMS, e-commerce, loss prevention and financial and payroll. Our IT infrastructure is designed to be able to access real-time data from any store or channel. The network infrastructure is designed to allow us to quickly and cost effectively add new stores to the wide area network (“WAN”). Our critical systems are backed up via offsite storage and are supported by backup generators increasing our ability to remain operational in the event of a power failure. Each of our locations have redundant network connections, designed to reduce the potential for network outages.
We have implemented software for all of our major business-critical systems. Key operating systems include enterprise resource planning (“ERP”), system application processing (“SAP”) Commerce for our e-commerce channel, and Java point of sale (“JPOS”) for in-store functionality, and WMS. Our physical infrastructure is also built on products from vendors such as Cisco, Dell, Oracle Sun and VMWare. In fiscal year 2025, we expect to make substantial capital expenditures related to strategic technological investments.
Furthermore, we have incorporated reporting tools that are designed to enable our management to more effectively monitor our financial and operational performance to drive financial results by leveraging a range of data insights that is both more granular and more comprehensive than our previous tools. Real-time sales data is available to district, store and departments managers. In addition, our reporting tools generate custom-created reports that provide our team with on-demand access to the data relevant to their area of responsibility.
Intellectual Property
Sportsman’s Warehouse®, Sportsman’s Warehouse America’s Premier Outfitter®, Lost Creek®, LC Lost Creek Fishing Gear and Accessories®, Rustic Ridge TM, Killik TM, K Killik & Design TM, LC & Design TM, Vital Impact TM, and The American Parts Company - TAPCOTM are among our service marks or trademarks registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In addition, we own several other registered and unregistered trademarks and service marks involving advertising slogans and other names and phrases used in our business. We also own numerous domain names, includingwww.sportsmans.com, among others. The information on, or that can be accessed through, our websites is not a part of this filing.
We believe that our trademarks are valid and valuable and intend to maintain our trademarks and any related registrations. We do not know of any material pending claims of infringement or other challenges to our right to use our marks in the United States or elsewhere. We have no franchises or other concessions that are material to our operations.
Our Market and Competition
Our Market
We compete in the large, growing, and fragmented outdoor activities and sporting goods market, which we believe is currently underserved by full-line, multi-activity retailers. We believe, based on the 2022 U.S. Fish and Wildlife national survey published in September of 2023 and conducted once every five years, that U.S. outdoor activities and sporting goods retail sales total over $170 billion annually. The U.S. outdoor activities and sporting goods sector consists of three primary categories—equipment, apparel, and footwear—each containing distinct product sets to support a variety of activities, including hunting, fishing, camping, and shooting, as well as other sporting goods activities.
We believe growth in the U.S. outdoor activities and sporting goods market is driven by key trends focused on enhancing performance and enjoyment while participating in these activities. This includes new product introductions, participation levels, and the resilience of consumer demand for purchases in these categories compared to other discretionary categories. We expect these factors to continue fostering growth in the outdoor activities and sporting goods market in the future.
Within the retail sporting goods sector, we primarily operate in the outdoor equipment, apparel, and footwear segment, which includes hunting and shooting, fishing, camping, hiking, and boating. Participation in these activities remains strong and continues to grow. According to the 2022 U.S. Fish and Wildlife national survey, anglers and hunters spent more than $60 billion on equipment in 2022, which is approximately 40% higher than the amount reported in the 2016 survey. Additionally, the number of participating anglers and hunters increased by approximately 11% and 25%, respectively, from 2016 to 2022.
Furthermore, we believe specialty retailers have generated incremental sales volume by expanding their presence, particularly in smaller underserved communities, increasing customers’ access to products that were previously less available. The nature of the outdoor activities we cater to often requires recurring purchases throughout the year, resulting in high conversion rates among customers. For example, active anglers typically purchase various fishing tackle throughout the year based on seasons and changing conditions. Hunting with firearms is often accompanied by recurring purchases of ammunition and cleaning supplies, as well as multiple firearm styles for different types of game.
Competition
We believe the principal competitive factors in our industry are product selection, including locally relevant offerings, value pricing, convenient locations, technical services, and customer service. Some of our competitors operate a larger number of stores and have a greater market presence, name recognition, and more financial, distribution, marketing, and other resources than we do. However, we believe we compete effectively through our distinctive branded selection, superior customer service, and commitment to understanding and providing merchandise relevant to our target customer base. We cater to outdoor enthusiasts and possess both an in-depth knowledge of the technical outdoor customer and a “grab-and-go” store environment that uniquely meets their need for value and convenience. Our flexible store format, combined with our low-cost, high-service model, enables us to enter and serve smaller markets that our larger competitors cannot penetrate as effectively.
Additionally, certain legal restrictions exist on the sale of some of our product offerings, such as firearms, ammunition, certain cutlery, propane, and reloading powder, which create structural barriers to competition from many online retailers. Over the past few years, several big-box retailers have either exited or significantly reduced their exposure to the hunting and shooting sports categories due to increasing federal, state, and local regulations. Given our strong position in the hunting and shooting sports market, we believe we are well-positioned to meet consumer demand in these large categories.
Our principal competitors include:
Independent, local specialty stores with locally relevant but often limited product offerings
Other specialty retailers that compete with us across a significant portion of our merchandising categories through retail stores, catalogs, or e-commerce businesses
Large-format sporting goods stores and chains
Mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs, discount stores, and department stores
Online retailers with deep offerings in our product categories
Independent, Local Specialty Stores. These stores generally range in size from approximately 2,000 to 10,000 square feet and typically focus on one or more specific product categories, such as hunting, fishing, or camping.
Other Specialty Retailers. Some of the specialty retailers that compete with us across multiple merchandising categories are large-format retailers, with stores typically ranging from 40,000 to 250,000 square feet. These retailers aim to offer a broad selection of merchandise focused on hunting, fishing, camping, and other outdoor categories. Some combine retail with outdoor entertainment and theme attractions. We believe the number of these stores that can be supported in any single market area is limited due to their large size and significant per-store buildout cost.
Other specialty retailers are smaller chains that typically offer a broad selection of merchandise in one or more of the following categories—hunting, fishing, camping, or other outdoor activities. We believe we offer a broader and deeper selection of merchandise and specialized services than these retailers.
Large-Format Sporting Goods Stores and Chains. These stores generally range from 20,000 to 80,000 square feet and offer a broad selection of sporting goods, including baseball, basketball, football, and home gyms, in addition to hunting, fishing, and camping. However, we believe the amount of space dedicated to outdoor product categories in these stores limits their offerings in these areas.
Mass Merchandisers, Warehouse Clubs, Discount Stores, and Department Stores. Retailers in this category with physical locations generally range from approximately 50,000 to over 200,000 square feet and are primarily located in shopping centers, free-standing sites, or regional malls. Hunting, fishing, and camping merchandise and apparel represent a small portion of these stores’ assortments and total sales.
Online Retailers. E-commerce is a growing sales channel, and we face competition from various online retailers offering a wide range of products in our categories. These competitors include e-commerce-only retailers as well as many of the retailers mentioned above that also have an online presence.
There are approximately 47,000 Type 01 FFLs in the United States today, of which only approximately 5,100 are currently held by national or regional specialty stores. Since FFLs are issued at the store level, these statistics imply that almost 90% of the market is fragmented among small independent retailers. We believe this fragmentation within the total addressable market presents an attractive opportunity for us to continue to expand our market share, as customers increasingly prefer a broad and appealing selection of merchandise, competitive prices, high levels of service and one-stop shopping convenience.
Net sales are typically higher in our third and fourth fiscal quarters than in our first and second fiscal quarters because of the openings of hunting seasons across the country and consumer holiday buying patterns. We also incur additional expenses in our third and fourth fiscal quarters due to higher sales volume and increased staffing in our stores. On average, over the last three fiscal years, we have generated approximately 26.4% and 28.0% of our net sales in the third and fourth fiscal quarters, respectively, which includes the holiday selling season as well as the opening of the Fall hunting season. We anticipate our net sales will continue to reflect this seasonal pattern. However, Spring hunting, Father’s Day and the availability of hunting and fishing throughout the year in many of our markets counterbalance this seasonality to a certain degree. For additional information, see Part II, Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
Regulation and Compliance
Regulation and Legislation
We operate in a highly regulated industry. There are a number of federal, state and local laws and regulations that affect our business. In every state in which we operate, we must obtain various licenses and/or permits in order to operate our business.
Because we sell firearms at all of our retail stores, we are subject to regulation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (the “ATF”). Each store has its own Federal Firearms License ("FFL") that permits the sale of firearms, and our distribution center has obtained an FFL to store and distribute firearms. Certain states require a state license to sell firearms and/or ammunition and we have obtained these licenses for the states in which we operate that have such a requirement.
We must comply with federal, state and local laws and regulations, including the National Firearms Act of 1934 (the “NFA”), the Gun Control Act of 1968 (the “GCA”), the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 and provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, applicable to the Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax, all of which have been amended from time to time. The NFA and GCA require our business to, among other things, maintain FFLs for our locations and perform a pre-transfer background check in connection with each firearm purchase. We perform this background check using either the FBI-managed National Instant Criminal Background Check System (“NICS”), or a comparable state government-managed system that relies on NICS and any additional information collected by the state. These background check systems either confirm that a transfer can be made, deny the transfer or require that the transfer be delayed for further review, and provide us with a transaction number for the proposed transfer. We are required to record the transaction number on an ATF Form 4473 and retain this form in our records for auditing purposes for the entire duration we are in business.
The federal categories of prohibited purchasers are the prevailing minimum for all states. States (and, in some cases, local governments) on occasion enact laws that further restrict permissible purchases of firearms. We are also subject to numerous other federal, state and local laws and regulations regarding firearm sale procedures, record keeping, inspection and reporting, including adhering to minimum age restrictions regarding the acquisition, purchase or possession of firearms or ammunition, residency requirements, applicable waiting periods, importation regulations and regulations pertaining to the shipment and transportation of firearms.
On September 13, 1994, the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (the “AWB”), which prohibited the manufacture of certain firearms defined as “assault weapons,” restricted the sale or possession of “assault weapons,” except those that were manufactured prior to the law’s enactment, and placed restrictions on the sale of new high-capacity ammunition feeding devices. In September 2004, Congress declined to renew the AWB. In the years following the expiration of the AWB, various states and local jurisdictions, including California, Colorado, New York and Washington (states in which we operate), have adopted their own versions of the AWB or high capacity ammunition feeding device restrictions, some of which apply to the products we sell in other states. If a statute similar to the AWB were to be enacted or re-enacted at the federal level, it would impact our ability to sell certain products. Additionally, state and local governments have enacted laws and regulations that place additional restrictions on the manufacture, transfer, sale, purchase, possession and use of firearms, ammunition and shooting-related products. For example, several states, such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Washington have enacted laws and regulations that are more restrictive than federal laws and regulations that limit access to and sale of certain firearms and ammunition. California, Connecticut and New York impose mandatory screening of ammunition purchases, some other states require the presentation of a firearms ownership identification card or permit in order to acquire ammunition products; Florida, Washington, and most recently, Colorado have passed legislation that, among other things, raises the minimum age to purchase certain firearms to 21 from 18 and imposes a multi-day waiting period on all gun purchases. California also raised the minimum age to purchase certain firearms to 21 and enacted several restrictions, including background checks on ammunition sales. Some states prohibit the sale of guns without internal or external locking mechanisms. Several states and the United States Congress have introduced microstamping legislation (that is, engraving the handgun’s serial number on the firing pin of new handguns) for certain firearms. Other state or local governmental entities may also explore similar legislative or regulatory initiatives that may further restrict the manufacture, sale, purchase, possession or use of firearms, ammunition and shooting-related products.
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (“PLCAA”), which became effective in October 2005, prohibits civil liability actions from being brought or continued in any federal or state court against federally licensed manufacturers, distributors, dealers or importers of firearms or ammunition for damages, punitive damages, injunctive or declaratory relief, abatement, restitution, fines, penalties or other relief resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a qualified product by third parties. PLCAA has six narrow exceptions which permits legitimate lawsuits such as traditional product liability actions or instances of unlawful conduct by a manufacturer or seller of a qualified product to proceed.
Several states have immunity statues in place similar to the PLCAA. However, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Washington recently enacted state legislation in the past five years that allow firearm dealers, manufacturers, and importers to engage in marketing or sales activities as defined in the legislation.
We are also subject to a variety of federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to, among other things, protection of the environment, human health and safety, advertising, pricing, weights and measures, product safety and other matters. Some of these laws affect or restrict the manner in which we can sell certain items, such as archery equipment, handguns, smokeless powder, black powder substitutes, ammunition, pepper spray, bows, knives and other products. State and local laws and regulations governing hunting, fishing, boating, all-terrain vehicles and other outdoor activities and equipment can also affect our business. We believe that we are in substantial compliance with the terms of such laws and that we have no liabilities under such laws that we expect could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
In addition, many of our imported products are subject to existing or potential duties, tariffs or quotas that may limit the quantity of products that we may import into the United States from other countries or impact the cost of such products. To date, quotas in the operation of our business have not restricted us, and customs duties have not comprised a material portion of the total cost of our products.
State, local, and federal laws and regulations relating to products that we sell may change, sometimes significantly, as a result of political, economic or social events. For instance, in November 2022, Oregon passed a ballot measure that bans firearms and magazines with a capacity of over ten rounds, and that, among other things, imposes complex permitting and training requirements for the purchases of firearms. On December 6, 2022, a state circuit court judge in Oregon temporarily blocked the enforcement of such legislation and later granted a permanent injunction on
November 21, 2023. The measure was also being challenged in a related case in federal court and was on appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. However, due to the recent ruling of a similar capacity restriction case in California (Duncan vs. Bonta), the Oregon federal court case will likely be remanded to the lower court.
Recently, on March 12, 2025, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that the ballot measure is constitutional under Oregon's state constitution and gave the plaintiffs 35 days to appeal the decision. As a result, sales of firearms in Oregon may be halted or substantially diminished until all permitting and training programs are fully developed by the state and/or law enforcement agencies. If that were to occur, it could result in a substantial decline in our sales of firearms and related products and reduce traffic to our stores in Oregon, which could have a substantial impact on our sales and gross margin. A pending bill in the Oregon House (HB 3075) seeks to delay the implementation of the permitting requirement until July 2026 and provides for certain exemptions (notably for law enforcement and military members). We currently operate eight stores in the State of Oregon.
Our e-commerce business is subject to the Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule and related regulations promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”), which affect our catalog mail order operations. FTC regulations, in general, govern the solicitation of orders, the information provided to prospective customers and the timeliness of shipments and refunds. In addition, the FTC has established guidelines for advertising and labeling many of the products we sell.
Compliance
We are routinely inspected by the ATF and various state agencies to ensure compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations. While we view such inspections as a starting point, we employ more comprehensive internal compliance inspections to help ensure we follow and are compliant with all applicable laws and regulations. With the IT infrastructure systems we have in place, certain components of inspections can be done remotely. In order to maintain compliance with the applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations, we have implemented company-wide standard operating procedures that apply to the sale of firearms and ammunition. All relevant outfitters are trained in accordance with the policies and procedures regarding the sale of ATF regulated items.
We dedicate significant resources to ensure compliance with applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Since we began operations in 1986, we have never had an FFL revoked.
We are also subject to a variety of state laws and regulations relating to, among other things, advertising and product restrictions. Some of these laws prohibit or limit the sale, in certain states and locations, of certain items, such as black powder firearms, ammunition, bows, knives and similar products. Our compliance department administers various restriction codes and other software tools to prevent the sale of such jurisdictionally-restricted items.
We have particular expertise in the California market and have passed several California Department of Justice (“CA DOJ”) firearm audits with zero or only minor violations. The CA DOJ communicates with us for policy discussion, recognizing the strength of our compliance infrastructure.
Compliance with government regulations, including environmental regulations, has not had, and based upon current information and the applicable laws and regulation currently in effect, is not expected to have a material effect on our capital expenditures, results of operations or competitive position. However, laws and regulations may be changed, accelerated or adopted that impose significant operational restrictions and compliance requirements upon us and which could negatively impact our operating results and financial condition. See Item 1A, “Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Firearms Business”.
Data Privacy
In the ordinary course of business, we collect, receive, store, process, generate, use, transfer, disclose, make accessible, protect, secure, dispose of, transmit, and share (collectively, “process”) personal data, such as our outfitters and consumer information. Accordingly, we are subject to numerous data privacy and security obligations, including federal, state, and local laws, regulations, guidance, industry standards, external and internal privacy and security policies, contractual requirements and other obligations related to data privacy and security.
These frameworks are evolving and may impose potentially conflicting obligations. Such obligations may include, without limitation, the Federal Trade Commission Act, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, (“CCPA”), industry standards, such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (“PCI DSS”), and wiretapping laws. The CCPA is an example of the increasingly stringent and evolving regulatory frameworks related to personal data processing that may increase our compliance obligations and exposure for any noncompliance. For example, the CCPA applies to personal data of consumers, business representative, and employees who are California residents, imposes specific obligations on covered businesses, provides for fines and allows private litigants affected by certain data breaches to recover significant statutory damages.
In addition, numerous other U.S. states have enacted comprehensive data privacy laws, and similar laws are being considered at the federal, state, and local levels.
Human Capital
We appreciate the importance of retention, growth and development of our outfitters. We strive to provide competitive compensation and benefits packages, opportunities for advancement, and extensive training programs and learning opportunities for our outfitters.
As of February 1, 2025, we had approximately 5,100 total outfitters. Of our total outfitters, approximately 200 were based at our corporate headquarters in West Jordan, Utah, approximately 400 outfitters were based at our distribution center and approximately 4,500 outfitters worked in our stores. As of February 1, 2025, we had approximately 2,050 full-time outfitters and approximately 3,050 part-time outfitters, who are primarily based in our stores. None of our outfitters are represented by a labor union or are party to a collective bargaining agreement and we have had no labor-related work stoppages.
We believe we offer competitive compensation and benefits packages. We are also focused on understanding the strengths and opportunities that come from within our workforce, which is made up of outfitters with varied experience, expertise, and backgrounds, and strive to execute on a strategy to support further progress in building out those existing outfitter capabilities. As our outfitters are often outdoor enthusiasts, we offer a discount program to our outfitters. We believe our level of outfitter store patronage and outfitter expertise are unique among our competitors in this industry and enhances our differentiated shopping experience.
We believe that the recruitment, training and knowledge of our outfitters and the consistency and quality of the service they deliver are central to our success. We emphasize deep product knowledge for store managers and sales associates during both the hiring and training stages. We hire most of our sales associates for a specific department or product categories. Our managers and sales associates undergo focused sales training, consisting of both sales techniques and specialized product instruction, both immediately upon hiring (approximately 20 hours) and continuing throughout their career (approximately 16 hours annually thereafter). For example, in our hunting department, all outfitters receive an additional nine hours of training on ATF and company policies initially upon hire, with continuing education throughout the year. Our store managers complete two to six months of on-the-job training at another store with a Sportsman’s Warehouse district manager, as part of which they receive approximately 80 hours of dedicated managerial training and instruction. Our department heads receive extensive online training as well as on-site instruction, totaling approximately 40 hours. As a result of these programs, our outfitters are highly trained to provide friendly and non-intimidating education, guidance and support to address our customers’ needs.
We have shifted our nomenclature to refer to our employees as "Outfitters," a title that better reflects the unique, outdoor-focused culture we are building and the expertise our employees possess. More than just a name change, this shift has influenced our job postings, training, and various aspects of the work experience for the purpose of fostering an Outfitter mindset. In addition, we collaborated with outfitters across the company to establish a formal set of Core Values that embody the mindset and behaviors we seek to recruit, develop, and recognize within our organization. These values include:
Outfitters Serving Outdoor Enthusiasts
Adventures are Better Together
Trust is Our North Star
Hitting the Mark
Pioneering Spirit
We are bringing these values to life through a company-wide communication campaign, leadership development, and recognition program.
One of our unique assets is a designated training room located at our headquarters. Our training room is used frequently for company-wide training programs and by vendors to stage training demonstrations for new products. Training room sessions are broadcast real-time in high definition to each store location and are recorded for future viewing. Vendor training is particularly interactive, permitting vendor representatives to present a uniform message simultaneously to all outfitters, while allowing managers and sales staff in individual stores to ask questions and provide real-time feedback on products. This system increases vendors’ product knowledge reach and provides more effective training to our outfitters. Training room sessions are especially important for technical products that have numerous design features and a high unit price, because they enable our sales associates to better educate customers and provide additional assurance that a given product fits the customer’s needs.
Available Information
Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), are available on our website atwww.sportsmans.com, free of charge, as soon as reasonably practicable after the electronic filing of these reports with, or furnishing of these reports to, the SEC. We may post information that is important to investors on our website from time to time. The information provided on our website is not part of this report and is, therefore, not incorporated herein by reference.
The text of this filing, as the company filed it with the SEC, without its images or exhibits. This is not investment advice.