Outdoor retailer to drop huge deals in California amid liquidation

A beloved equestrian retailer is being put out to pasture.

Dover Saddlery, one of the country’s best-known sellers of riding apparel, horse equipment, saddles and tack, is preparing to launch going-out-of-business sales across its remaining stores unless a last-minute rescue deal comes together, according to the Boston Globe.

The 50-year-old company had about 30 stores around the country, including California locations in Moorpark and Moraga.

The chain’s elite Laguna Hills and Sacramento stores are already closed.

Boston-based restructuring firm Gordan Brothers acquired Dover in late April and is preparing liquidation sales if it cannot find a viable deal to sell some or most of the company, the Globe reported.

Dover has not filed for Chapter 11 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to TheStreet.

The company’s financial struggles became public earlier this month when it filed a Massachusetts WARN notice saying 112 workers at its Littleton headquarters and distribution center could be laid off between July 7 and July 20.

The notice said the closures would depend partly on whether Dover could find funding or sell the business.

Dover was founded in 1975 by top US equestrian riders Jim and David Powers and grew into the country’s largest equestrian retailer, the Globe reported.

But unless “something heroic happens,” liquidation sales could begin at the rest of its stores, a source told the outlet.

For horse owners and riders, it could be the end of one of the most recognizable names in the stable.

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