Five months after Dick's Sporting Goods Inc.'s CEO Edward Stack told shareholders the company liked its prospects in California, the Findlay-based company has entered the state with a rush. Dick's announced Monday it has acquired Chick's Sporting Goods, a privately-held, 14-store, California-based sporting goods chain, for about $71 million in cash and assumed debt. Founded in Covina, Calif., in 1949 by the Chick family, the company's annual sales total about $100 million annually, barely a blip on Dick's revenue scale. The acquirer in its latest fiscal year recorded revenues of more than $3.1 billion. In addition to the 14 stores, Chick's also operates its corporate headquarters facility in Covina and a distribution center in San Dimas, Calif. Total employees number more than 1,400. "We're not sure yet when we will enter California, but we like what we see there," Stack said in early June, answering questions after Dick's annual shareholder meeting. "Californians have a very active, outdoors lifestyle." According to recent analyst presentations, California within the next seven years will be home to the sporting goods chain's largest number of stores. The company's goal is to operate 800 stores nationwide within about seven years, based on 15 percent store growth annually and excluding acquisitions. California indeed is a huge prize for Dick's, which projects it will open 90 stores in the state. Dick's in the quarter that ended earlier this month operated 340 stores in 36 states, primarily east of the Mississippi River. On a map showing Dick's 800-store projection, all 48 contiguous states will have a minimum of two stores, with California growing from zero to 90 stores, Texas jumping from three to 60 and Florida growing from six to 40.

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