Giant Bikes expands US retailer profile with Dick’s Sporting Goods deal

Giant Group is expanding its approach to retail in the US following a new partnership with chain store Dick’s Sporting Goods.

The move will see certain Giant Bikes sold in circa 25 stores of Dick’s House of Sport, Public Lands and Moosejaw across the US – all part of the Dick’s Sporting Goods retail group.

A letter from Giant explaining the move is being widely shared in online forums, with much discussion about the impact the deal will have.

Bicycle Retailer is reporting that Dick’s will retail kids and MTB bikes (and points out that Cannondale and GT have previously made similar deals with Dick’s).

Giant’s letter explained the reasoning behind the surprise move: “Buy adding these nationally recognised retailers, Giant Group aims to enhance its market presence and introduce its brands to new consumers.”

The letter went one: “We want to emphasise that our brand ethos and strategy remain unchanged. We are a Retail Support company and will continue prioritising our IBD partners’ services, products and profitability.”

There are between 700-800 Dick’s Sporting Goods locations in the US, so the 25 stores stocking Giant represents a small slice of the total. However speculation has inevitably covered whether that number will expand in the future.

ANALYSIS: WILL GIANT BIKES BE BROUGHT TO MORE CUSTOMERS WITH MOVE?

US independent retailers will naturally be at least intrigued or at worst alarmed at this move by Giant. However Giant’s stated reasoning to bring the Giant brand to more consumers – with only limited models available through Dick’s stores – appears logical. With the caveat that CIN is speaking from a UK perspective with limited familiarity with Dick’s Sporting Goods stores, presumably they do not have workshop and servicing facilities and expertise on par with an independent bike business.

Conversely, Giant is one of the most famous bike brands in the world and is presumably not short of brand recognition with the US public already. And by joining Cannondale and GT at Dick’s, is removing a difference between those brands. Could bringing Giant bikes to sporting goods retailers encourage more of the public onto bikes? The jury is out, but the industry will likely be closely examining how this one develops as another bike brands shakes up its approach to consumers.