Another loss for the industry.....

The country is facing difficult times. Many people are feeling the squeeze, including those in the QH industry. Over the past year I have read many threads on PH regarding cutting costs, ways to save money, how to show on a budget, etc. Early on, a lot of this stemmed from high gas prices. For many it was too expensive to show the same circuits they did the prior show season. Many were only going to shows that had large numbers in the hopes of big pointed classes. Some stopped showing QH all together and went to the Open show scene where one could typically win enough money during the show to pay for the show and then some. And then there were some that stopped showing all together and turned their horses out so they could just be horses.

I remember a couple months ago someone posted on PH about a local company that had a tack store and trailer sales that went under. Now recently another company has gone bankrupt, but this one is a much larger chain, one that owns Sergeants Western World. It was announced at the beginning of November that this company was going bankruptcy proceedings and that on November 26, they would start liquidating all the merchandise at their stores, about $70 million worth. Unfortunately due to this they stopped processing orders online and over the phone.

I must admit I was pretty disappointed that I could no longer order from Sergeants. I had just sent my Mom a list of stuff that I wanted from there for Christmas and of course she hadn't ordered anything yet. But overall I am upset to see yet another company fall victim to this economy.

I wish that I lived in Texas or that there was a Sergeants close to me so I could do some shopping. I was able to shop there once when I went to the Youth World in fort Worth in 1997. I was in heaven and wished we had a store like it where I lived. After that visit I frequently found myself circling items I wanted in the catalog.

Now ten years later, things changed drastically in tack retailers. SLT is not the same company as it was. I remember SLT being more like how Schneiders is now, a store that carried everything for horse owners at an affordable price. I remember my parents ordering many things through them for me. I believe they even got a couple of my old Hobby Horse outfits through them. Another retailer I feel has changed is Millers. I remember drooling over every page of the Millers catalog, now I feel Millers is no different then the current SLT.

Those were the days.....now only if I can find equipment carriers similar to the ones Sergeants had for around the same price.

Christina