In line with its store-expansion efforts, DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc. DKS has announced the inauguration of a namesake store in Raleigh, NC, in August. This store will be launched in the company’s existing Golf Galaxy location. Including the new store, the company will operate 729 DICK'S Sporting Goods domestic stores across 47 states.Grand opening of this store will take place on Aug 10 through Aug 12, at Pleasant Valley Promenade, 6254 Glenwood Ave. Notably, the events will provide an opportunity to the customers to win prizes, alongside special guest appearances.Generally, store openings are beneficial for the employees and respective community. Also, it helps generating robust sales and boosts the company’s profitability. DICK'S Sporting new store will serve customers with top brands and high-class services besides golf assortments. The communities can avail exclusive apparel, equipment and footwear collections from the company’s private brands like Tommy Armour, Field & Stream and more. Additionally, they will be offered assortments from players like NIKE, Inc. NKE, Under Armour, Inc. UAA and adidas AG ADDYY.In the last reported quarter, the company inaugurated eight namesake stores. As of May 5, 2018, DICK'S Sporting Goods operated 724 namesake stores across 47 states, 94 Golf Galaxy stores in 32 states and 35 Field & Stream stores in 16 states.In fiscal 2018, the company plans to introduce 19 and relocate four flagship stores. Further, management does not intend to open any Field & Stream or Golf Galaxy stores in the fiscal year.Apart from store-expansion efforts, DICK’S Sporting’s unique strategy of offering exclusive branded merchandise, sourced from leading manufacturers, provides it with a platform to better compete with other players. Further, the company leverages strong vendor relationships to source overstock and closeout merchandise at substantial discounts in order to achieve the dual objectives of boosting gross margin while offering compelling value to customers. These investments are likely to improve customer satisfaction and inventory turnover besides driving merchandise margin rates.Backed by these strategic initiatives, this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock has gained 20.6% year to date, outperforming its industry’s 2.5% growth. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All Last year, it generated $8 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $47 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc. (DKS): Free Stock Analysis Report NIKE, Inc. (NKE): Free Stock Analysis Report Adidas AG (ADDYY): Free Stock Analysis Report Under Armour, Inc. (UAA): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research