Dick's Sporting Goods recounts founding and says Pittsburgh is company home
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Summary
A company representative recounted Dick's Sporting Goods' 1948 founding in Binghamton, New York, the $300 seed gift that launched the business, and the company's later decision to move its corporate headquarters to Pittsburgh, praising Pennsylvania as critical to the company's growth.
Company representative (role: company representative) said the retail company now known as Dick's Sporting Goods was founded in 1948 in Binghamton, New York, and later moved its corporate headquarters to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "The company was started back in 1948 by my father as a small bait and tackle shop," the company representative said.
The representative said the business began after the founder's grandmother gave him $300 to start the store. "She finally said to him, what would it cost you to start this business yourself? And he said $300... She... took out $300 and gave him the $300 and said, go start this business yourself," the company representative said.
The representative said the company had nine stores when leaders decided to relocate the corporate headquarters to Pittsburgh. "So when we decided to move the company to Pittsburgh, we only had 9 stores," the representative said, adding that the move was made because growing the business from Binghamton would be difficult.
The speaker also told an anecdote about a team member who visited Pittsburgh for a weekend and returned having bought a house. "He came back in on Monday and I said I said, how'd you like it? He said, Mary and I bought a house," the representative said.
The remarks included praise for Pennsylvania and Governor Josh Shapiro. "Governor Shapiro's tagline is Pennsylvania gets it done, and I can tell you that Dick's Sporting Goods got it done in Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania definitely helped us get it done," the company representative said.
The representative concluded by encouraging entrepreneurs and companies seeking a corporate headquarters to consider Pennsylvania. "We'd encourage anybody who's looking to start a business or looking to grow their business and need a new place for a corporate headquarters, you really should look at Pennsylvania," the company representative said.