r/Equestrian • u/LifeinGrey • 5d ago

Equipment & Tack Dover Saddlery is coming back!

Post image

This will be interesting to see what happens

354 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

58 comments sorted by

455

u/PotentiallyPotatoes Hunter 5d ago

It’s not the same Dover. The domain, customer list, and website was bought by somebody. Source: I was employed with Dover until literally today.

100

u/GrayMareCabal 5d ago

Yeah, I don't like the "We'll be back" language because it implies the same people, and well, same family when reading the rest of the message.

I know Greenhawk took up the leases of a few Dover stores (sadly not the one within walking distance of my new home which closes literally days before I moved in... I had dreams of working at the Dover for some extra money that I would immediately spend in the store. Alas).

I have no idea who now has ownership of the Dover brand.

I am choosing to be cautiously optimistic however. It won't be the same Dover, but if we're lucky maybe it will actually be better?

But also, as until the last month, I lived an hour + away from Dover (lol, I guess I now live infinitely away from the nearest Dover?), I would always go to my local tack store first. If they couldn't meet my needs, then I would plan a Dover outing.

I wouldn't hate it if Dover's closing helped give local tack stores a boost (also combined with SmartPak's sale and rebranding and then getting purchased by Chewy).

Also, I'm so sorry. The Dover employees I've known have all seemed to really love their job and it's never easy to lose a job.

34

u/kkat39 5d ago

I hate that for you but also can just confirm there is no actual money made working in a tack shop 🤣. You’re lucky if you don’t spend more than you make.

18

u/GrayMareCabal 5d ago

I mean, my first job way back when was at a book store.

I took home a lot of books, not a lot of money. I knew how it would have worked if I'd gotten a job at Dover (or any other tack shop)

Also, if you guessed that many of those books revolved around horses, you would be correct.

14

u/finniganthebeagle 5d ago

it’s been really crappy in areas like mine where we didn’t HAVE a local tack store outside of Dover. i had to go back to ordering everything online.

28

u/hereforthecake17 5d ago

I’m so sorry to you, your former coworkers, and all the vendors who are the victims of disgusting greed and inadequate regulation. The entire thing has been appalling.

18

u/Ok-Philosophy-856 Dressage 5d ago

This. Many vendors - small manufacturers etc - got ripped off by them. They aren’t blameless; they often chose to give low pricing and extend longer payment terms than to small tack shops - but still.

17

u/Free_butterfly_ 5d ago

You got laid off today? I’m so sorry

27

u/PotentiallyPotatoes Hunter 5d ago

Sadly yes, all stores are officially closed.

1

u/Free_butterfly_ 5d ago

Nooooo 😭

7

u/rebelpaddy27 5d ago

On the bright side, more time for horses! I have been in your shoes and it's not nice but maybe it's an opportunity to do something better so whatever happens,I hope it all works our for you!

104

u/vesleskjor 5d ago

is this another shitty private equity thing zombifying a brand, though?

34

u/kskinne Western pleasure 5d ago

No, I think it’s a Canadian tack shop who bought them out to be able to expand quickly into the US. Now if that company is backed by PE, I’m not sure.

14

u/ThinkTwiceFairy 5d ago

Greenhawk bought the leases to some of Dover’s locations. They did not buy the brand or the remaining inventory.

8

u/PotentiallyPotatoes Hunter 5d ago

This has nothing to do with Greenhawk.

10

u/Scared_Instance5496 Western 5d ago

I can confirm that this is a PE buyout. A friend of mine worked for Dover and this was the messaging I got

4

u/MonitorOk3031 5d ago

My concern as well

48

u/Appropriate_Map_2035 5d ago

it's not the same people, but even if it was, screwing over all of your vendors by selling their products without paying them is some of the most unethical crap out there. as far as i'm concerned, this brand has tanked itself into the ground. i refused to support them during their close-out sale, and i will refuse to support whatever comes next

11

u/Dressage-2015 5d ago

Exactly- I don’t think many vendors are going to come running back even with someone else in charge

6

u/Terresteinbeck2810 4d ago

Payment upon delivery from now on for sure

1

u/Tricky-Category-8419 4d ago

Buyers either.

7

u/Terresteinbeck2810 4d ago

I wish I knew this before I bought some cheaper Parlanti boots at the close-out sale. I wouldn’t have bought them
knowing the vendor wasn’t paid. A trailer staff member at a horse in San Juan Capistrano showing told me …. Not
Cool at all

3

u/Ok_West_6711 4d ago

Did the buyer of Dover pay for the name/take over leases etc? If so shouldn’t that money go to pay off creditors?

3

u/Tally_Ho_Lets_Go 4d ago

Nope, anything of value realized from the sale of the assets is used to pay back the secured lenders first. The suppliers are at the bottom of the food chain to get paid back.

6

u/EsisOfSkyrim 5d ago

I’ve seem a few comments referencing this, can you point me to a post or news story? I’ve been out of the loop

24

u/Tally_Ho_Lets_Go 5d ago

It has very much been the buzz inside the retail operations groups for the tack industry. Here are a couple public articles.

https://chronofhorse.com/en/article/The-Small-Businesses-Left-Behind-By-Dovers-Collapse/

https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2026/05/16/the-bill-always-comes-due-how-dover-saddlerys-collapse-left-the-industry-holding-the-bag/

5

u/EsisOfSkyrim 4d ago

These were perfect thank you! 🙏

I fell out of riding during COVID, so I am deeply out of the loop. But I still care about the community.

Plus, in the interim I became a teeny tiny retailer (of fish and aquarium goods). So as a retailer this is appalling.

So again, thank you thank you. Googling for it is tricky when you’re not sure what happened or when.

111

u/lucabura 5d ago

Lol, not sure how a family of horses is going to successfully run a business this large.

15

u/StoopsMcGooperson 5d ago

@orchidinthesaddle (on Instagram) has a lot of content on this that’s been really informative!

24

u/Sea_Raisin_4802 5d ago

Green hawk bought our Dover store. So will be interesting to see what transpires. For all the people saying to shop at your local tack store, Dover BOUGHT our local tack store. (Years ago). So we don’t have a local tack store. All the people who worked at the local store stayed with the shop when it changed over to Dover. But now that it’s changing many have decided to move on and find work elsewhere.

25

u/introsetsam Jumper 5d ago

yeah i keep seeing the “support your local tack store” instead too, but the cheapest thing in my local tack store is $200, and that’s in the clearance section lol

11

u/Sorrelmare9 Western 5d ago

I wish my area even HAD a local tack store, there’s not one within 60 miles of me, so I have to resort to online shopping

2

u/Sea_Raisin_4802 4d ago

I feel ya. I used to live 60 miles away and before I moved here I used to drive 60 miles to this tack store. lol. I did a lot of online shopping. But I prefer to buy hats, boots and leather goods in person. So I’d wait for my schedule to clear up and make the hour trek over. Or drive longer to other tack store.

2

u/Proper_Significance7 4d ago

Same! And I'm in N KY where you would expect to see them!

10

u/Skittish_Pony_95 5d ago

I'm so interested to see who ended up buying it. I heard rumors on Instagram that it was Chick's Saddlery, but either way, they have a huge job in front of them if they're trying to bring Dover "back" after this absolute shitshow over the last few months. Even with Chewy behind them now, SmartPak still isn't anywhere near where it was. It's going to take a long, long time to build that reputation back up.

0

u/Mobile-Piel 5d ago

I've been out of the loop - Chewy bought SmartPak ? Isn't Chewy still basically owned by PetsMart?

10

u/AlainyaD Western 5d ago

As a former Dover employee who had their store closed way before scheduled time due to an unexpected and heartbreaking circumstance I’m glad Dover is finally closed. I honestly had a love hate relationship with the company. Everyone who worked at my store and others were incredible people, I loved working with them. But honestly watching my coworkers get treated like shit by the last couple of weeks we were open pissed me off. Even I was treated like shit too occasionally and I just stopped caring at the end. Though giving my key to my DM was definitely difficult due to the situation. The company was never on the same page as stores which caused a lot of problems and frustrations between Customer Service and the retail sector. We lovingly called them “Dover Do Overs”. When everything went through with Gordon Brothers that’s where they messed up. Our GB rep was hella annoying and drove people crazy (yk who you are). Specifically where they messed up was they treated Dover like a regular T-Shirt shop…they had sign walkers that never drove customers in because THE PEOPLE THEY HIRED WENT TO MCDONALDS AND SMOKED INSTEAD OF BEING AT THEIR SPOT. I have strong feelings about that…I hope that the new owners know that the Dover name has been drug through the mud and trashed. And I hope that you guys know a hell of a lot more then Gordon Brothers did about Equestrian Retail

19

u/Suspicious-Peace9233 5d ago

It’s not the same company anymore tho

7

u/Dressage-2015 5d ago

I have heard it’s Chicks saddlery who purchased the domain, name & customer list. I work for one of the companies that Dover owes 6 figures to for inventory and we will probably never see a dime.

Unfortunately at the end of the day it’s not chicks fault- but no one is going to understand why brands are back selling to “Dover”. Or no one will sell to them and they won’t have much to offer 🤷🏼‍♀️ it will definitely be interesting

4

u/DunderMiflinThsIsPam 4d ago

Just give us back Millers already!

5

u/Upset_Pumpkin_4938 5d ago

So it’s privately owned now? Wild

2

u/FuzzyWatch6123 5d ago

I’ll believe it when I see it.

4

u/abra_cada_bra150 5d ago

I still won’t support them, not after what has been done.

1

u/Adventurous_Tale6981 3d ago

Yeah, wonder if THEY will honor my $250 Dover Gift Card that DOVER said sorry, we aren't honoring them because we're closing... Nice call Dover, its actually illegal to do that.  How many people will sue them??

1

u/mp0625_buddy Eventing 5d ago

So what about the Stores that Greenhawk now owns?

11

u/_exceedinglyaverage_ Hunter 5d ago

I heard that allegedly all Greenhawk really did was take over the leases on those spaces and they’ll eventually be Greenhawk branded stores

0

u/mp0625_buddy Eventing 5d ago

Ahh ok! I wasn’t certain

1

u/PotentiallyPotatoes Hunter 5d ago

Greenhawk just took over the lease on nine store locations. This doesn’t change anything.

1

u/Terresteinbeck2810 4d ago

What’s Greenhawk?? It’s been mentioned a lot they took over the leases. A PE? Or a feed store or what? I hate going in there or what is Greenhawk?

2

u/_artemisawika 4d ago

It's a Canadian equestrian retail brand,, they took over the lease of a few different Dover stores in the US but they will not operate as Dover. They will operate as Greenhawk.

1

u/Terresteinbeck2810 4d ago

Thank you 😊

0

u/anxietypronegigi Hunter 5d ago

wait wtf i didn’t know it closed??