The insight: The US consumer is in good shape, according to the CEOs of Dick’s Sporting Goods and Urban Outfitters—despite a recent dip in confidence and tariff fears.

The situation: Both retailers highlighted resilient spending in Q2, a notable trend given their focus on largely discretionary sectors.

• Dicks is “not seeing any signs of slowdown with the consumer,” CEO Lauren Hobart said. In fact, it’s seeing the opposite: Sales across its key segments, including footwear, apparel, team sports, and golf, are growing.
• Urban Outfitters CEO Richard Hayne noted that its consumers “are feeling very optimistic” and “behaving accordingly”—as more purchased full-price items. That helped drive an 11% YoY increase in total sales, with North America comp sales returning to positive territory.

The common denominator: While both Dick’s and Urban Outfitters point to resilient consumer spending, much of that likely comes from their strengths, particularly their ability to deliver on-trend products that command full price.

• For Dick’s, a healthy pipeline of new and innovative products from the likes of Nike is generating customer excitement. Q2 revenues rose 5% YoY to $3.65 billion, ahead of expectations; the comparable sales rise of 5% handily outpaced StreetAccount’s consensus estimate of 3.2%.
• Urban Outfitters’ full-price sales reflect a merchandising strategy that focuses on top-selling categories like loungewear and denim, as well as expanded accessories, novelties, and gifting assortments that encourage more frequent visits. The retailer is also offering a wider array of more affordable items, which will help maintain its value proposition even as it imposes “gentle price increases” on other products to account for tariffs.

Our take: Urban Outfitters’ and Dick’s Sporting Goods’ confidence in the health of the consumer shows that despite the strain of tariffs and uncertainty, shoppers remain willing to spend on products that they feel are worth the investment.

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