Dick's Sporting Goods 2014 Annual Report Download - page 35

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Our end-to-end supply chain management suite of software applications is from Manhattan Associates and operates our four
distribution centers from the central computing complex in our corporate headquarters, which we refer to as the Store Support
Center ("SSC"). The Company's Financial and Human Resource Management systems are PeopleSoft applications provided by
Oracle. All third party applications are integrated and enhanced using state-of-the-art software tools and techniques developed
internally.
The enterprise data center located within our SSC is equipped with mainframe and mid-range computers and storage systems
from IBM, integrated with voice and data networking communication equipment from Cisco. This facility has been built to
support the future growth of the Company. The Company has also established a separate data center to serve as the Company's
disaster recovery redundancy location.
Purchasing and Distribution
We purchase merchandise from approximately 1,500 vendors. During fiscal 2014, Nike and Under Armour, our largest vendors,
represented approximately 19% and 12%, respectively, of our merchandise purchases. No other vendor represented 10% or
more of our fiscal 2014 merchandise purchases. We do not have long-term purchase contracts with any of our vendors and all of
our purchases from vendors are made on a short-term purchase order basis.
We operate four regional distribution centers: a 914,000 square foot distribution center near Atlanta, Georgia, a 725,000 square
foot distribution center in Plainfield, Indiana, a 601,000 square foot distribution center in Smithton, Pennsylvania and a 624,000
square foot distribution center in Goodyear, Arizona. Vendors directly ship floor ready merchandise to our distribution centers,
where it is processed and allocated directly to our stores or to temporary storage at our distribution centers. Our distribution
centers are responsible for consolidating damaged or defective merchandise from our stores that is being returned to vendors.
We have contracted with common carriers to deliver merchandise from all of our distribution centers to our stores.
Competition
The market for sporting goods retailers is highly fragmented and intensely competitive. The retail sporting goods industry
comprises five principal categories:
Large Format Sporting Goods Stores
The large format stores generally range from 20,000 to 100,000 square feet and offer a broad selection of sporting goods
merchandise. Our large format store has had strong performance due in part to our unique approach in blending the best
attributes of a large format store with the best attributes of a specialty shop.
Traditional Sporting Goods Stores
These stores generally range from 5,000 to 20,000 square feet and are frequently located in regional malls and multi-store
shopping centers. Although they typically carry a varied assortment of merchandise, these stores offer a more limited product
assortment than our stores. We believe these stores do not cater to the sports enthusiast.
Specialty and Vendor Stores
These stores generally range from 2,000 to 20,000 square feet and typically focus on a specific category, such as athletic
footwear, or an activity, such as golf or skiing. Certain specialty stores that focus on a group of related activities can have
significantly larger square footage footprints and be designed as destination stores. We believe prices at these stores typically
tend to be higher than prices at the large format sporting goods stores and traditional sporting goods stores. In addition, several
sporting goods brands, many of which we sell in our stores, also sell their products direct to consumers through their own retail
stores and internet operations. While these stores may offer a deep selection of products within their specialty or across a single
brand, they lack the wide range of products or brand selection that we offer.