Dick’s began with a grandmother’s cookie jar.

Dick’s Sporting Goods is a lesson in a humble start grown into a giant. Richard “Dick” Stack founded the business in 1948 in Binghamton, New York, at age 18. Working at a local Army-Navy store, he pitched a fishing-gear plan and was told he’d “never make a good merchant” — so his grandmother gave him $300 from her cookie jar, which he used to open a small bait-and-tackle shop (originally “Dick’s Clothing & Sporting Goods”). His son Edward W. Stack joined full-time in 1977 and, as CEO from 1984, built the small store into the national big-box chain. From a cookie jar to the country’s largest sporting-goods retailer. (Honest caveats: no official brand hex or wordmark typeface is published, so the colours and type here are approximate.)

Today Dick’s is the largest US sporting-goods retailer (850+ stores), and its growth banner is the experiential “House of Sport” format — big stores with fields, rock walls and try-before-you-buy experiences. Its family of banners has included Golf Galaxy, Public Lands, Going Going Gone! and Field & Stream (which it has been winding down to focus on House of Sport). The identity is instantly recognisable: “DICK’S” in white on a bold red block, with “SPORTING GOODS” in black — a strong, athletic, high-impact mark.

Dick’s is also known for a notable brand-values stand. After the February 2018 Parkland school shooting, CEO Edward Stack announced (on Good Morning America) that Dick’s would stop selling assault-style rifles, raise the firearm-purchase age to 21, and end high-capacity-magazine sales. In 2019, Stack revealed the company had destroyed roughly $5 million of its own remaining assault-style rifle inventory rather than return it — “if we really think these things should be off the street, we need to destroy them.” It was controversial and cost sales, but it was a genuine, values-driven decision. On ownership, Dick’s is publicly traded (NYSE: DKS), based near Pittsburgh, with the Stack family retaining significant control. A cookie-jar startup with real convictions.

Dick’s lives in red and black. Click a swatch to copy the hex.

Dick’s Sporting Goods’ palette is bold and athletic — a strong red (the signature block behind the “DICK’S” wordmark), deep black (“SPORTING GOODS”) and white. The red reads as energetic, competitive and confident — the colour of team sports and big-game energy — while the black adds strength and contrast. Together they’re high-impact and sporty, matching a big-box sporting-goods retailer built on athletics and action. It’s a powerful, no-nonsense scheme that stands out on a storefront and in a stadium. The honest caveat: Dick’s publishes no official public brand hex — the red and black here are observed approximations (and some third-party palettes wrongly list greens — those are errors), not a confirmed spec.

The lesson is bold, athletic colour for a sports brand. Dick’s red-and-black block signals energy, competition and strength — the right register for sporting goods. For designers, it’s a reminder that a bold, high-impact palette can match an athletic category. The takeaways: use a strong, energetic primary anchored by black for a sports brand (red and black); build the mark around a confident shape (the red block); and treat specific hexes as approximate when no official spec is published.

The wordmark is a bold, condensed sans — athletic and strong.

Dick’s bold, condensed wordmark — the white “DICK’S” on a red block, with “SPORTING GOODS” beneath — is athletic and strong. The heavy, tightly-set letters read as powerful, competitive and no-nonsense, matching a sporting-goods big-box built on team sports and action, and the red-block lockup gives the mark real impact and instant recognition. It’s forceful and legible rather than refined, designed to stand out on a storefront and feel at home on a jersey or a scoreboard. (Because the exact face is a custom slab/condensed sans and undocumented, the honest description is “a bold, condensed sans,” not a named font.) The type behaves like the brand: athletic, strong and confident.

Dick’s put values ahead of some sales.

Dick’s Sporting Goods is a lesson in a brand acting on its convictions. The 2018 decision to stop selling assault-style rifles — and to destroy, rather than resell, its remaining inventory — was a genuine values move that cost the company sales and drew real backlash. But it also demonstrated that Dick’s would put its stated principles ahead of short-term revenue, a rare and defining moment for a big retailer. Combined with a strong, athletic identity and a bold experiential store format (House of Sport), it shows a brand willing to lead with both energy and conviction. A brand’s biggest statements are its decisions.

For designers and brand-builders, Dick’s offers a clear takeaway: values are proven by costly decisions, and a strong identity carries them. The lessons: let real decisions, not slogans, express a brand’s convictions (the firearms stand); build a bold, athletic, recognisable identity that fits the category (the red block, condensed type); and invest in experience to differentiate (House of Sport). It’s also a reminder to keep the facts precise — Dick’s was founded in 1948 by Dick Stack in Binghamton with $300 from his grandmother, grew under son Ed Stack into the largest US sporting-goods retailer, took its 2018 stand on assault-style rifles (destroying ~$5M of inventory in 2019), and is publicly traded (NYSE: DKS) with the Stack family retaining control. Dick’s put values ahead of some sales — proof that a brand’s convictions, and a strong identity, both matter.

Keep Dick’s Sporting Goods’s identity on hand — save it to a board in the Made Good inspiration library.