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It's How We Play the Game: Build a Business. Take a Stand. Make a Difference.

Ed Stack

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Founder connections

  • Michael BloombergPublisher endorsement
    The publisher prints Bloomberg’s praise for the book’s combination of building a business and standing by beliefs. This proves an endorsement; his edition, completed reading and use at Bloomberg are unknown.
    Source

Summary

Ed Stack tells the story of DICK’s Sporting Goods, from his father’s small shop to the retail company he later led. The memoir joins the family business story with Stack’s account of his own responsibilities as a retailer and employer. Its opening chapter describes early stock purchases, narrow margins, changes in merchandise, the search for parking and an unsuccessful second location. The wider account examines growth, community ties and the values behind difficult commercial decisions, including restrictions on gun sales. It presents business building through practical retail choices and the demands of taking public positions as the leader of a company.

  • SourceScribner, It’s How We Play the Game original publisher page · About the Book and authorized chapter 1 excerpt, Go Start This: family retail history, merchandise/location choices and later corporate values

Why read it Our view

Compare stated company values with decisions about merchandise, locations and customers. The retail cases make the costs and trade-offs of a public stance concrete.