Dick's Sporting Goods expands shop-in-shop strategy with Lids partnership

DICK'S Sporting Goods is turning part of its sales floor into a branded destination, with Lids shops already inside 46 stores and slated to reach more than 100 by late summer 2026. The setup is designed to feel immersive, with dedicated fixtures, merchandising and in-store product training for DICK'S teammates, a formula Big Lots workers will recognize as a sharper way to sell a category instead of just stocking it.

The move is more than a licensing play. DICK'S said the partnership is meant to meet athletes and fans looking for sport, lifestyle and fandom products, which is another way of saying the right assortment, presented the right way, can pull traffic and lift basket size. For store teams, that kind of setup usually brings higher expectations on visual standards, product knowledge and day-to-day execution, because a shop-in-shop only works if the branded area looks intentional and the associates can sell it with confidence.

That same pressure shows up in Big Lots whenever seasonal, licensed or closeout merchandise has to move fast. Value retailers often win or lose on presentation, and the shop-in-shop model is a reminder that a store does not have to be rebuilt to feel more curated. A better display, a tighter story and a more focused assortment can turn an ordinary aisle into a micro-destination, especially in categories where the customer is already shopping with a clear need.

DICK'S is backing up the Lids rollout with a broader format push. In its March 2026 full-year 2025 results, the company said it opened 16 House of Sport locations and 15 DICK'S Field House locations in 2025, and it plans to open about 14 more House of Sport locations and about 22 more DICK'S Field House locations in 2026. In its May 2026 first-quarter update, DICK'S said it had scaled the Foot Locker Business's Fast Break initiative to about 100 stores globally and remained on track to reach about 250 stores by back-to-school 2026.

That history matters because DICK'S, founded in 1948 in Binghamton, New York, is showing how aggressively it is using differentiated formats and branded zones to drive sales. Big Lots already leans on a curated category structure on its website, grouping items across home, bed & bath, apparel, pets, electronics and seasonal. The lesson for the store floor is straightforward: when retailers organize product into destinations that feel specific, the work on the sales floor becomes more demanding, but the payoff can be a store that feels easier to shop and more productive per square foot.