Eastern Mountain Sports (or EMS) is an American outdoor

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

and equipment

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

er in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

headquartered in

Meriden, Connecticut Meriden ( ) is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located halfway between the regional cities of New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The city is part of the South Central Connecticut Planni ...

. EMS sells outdoor equipment and clothing from both name brands and its own EMS line. The company also had a set of EMS Schools that offer classes in rock and ice climbing, kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, trekking, and skiing. The EMS Schools headquarters was located in the White Mountains in North Conway, New Hampshire, and has other locations near the

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains ( ) are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York (state), New York which form a circular dome approximately wide and covering about . The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the hi ...

in New York, etc.

History

EMS was founded in 1967 in Wellesley, Massachusetts by two camping enthusiasts, Alan McDonough, who was running the family hotel chain, and Roger Furst, a lawyer whose office was in the McDonough complex. They targeted the outdoor equipment market in Boston. The first store on Linden St. in Wellesley carried the Gerry outdoor equipment line as well as downhill skis. Mountain Shop Ad 1967

In 1968, the two enterprises merged and built the 1041 Commonwealth Avenue store – at 10,000 sq. ft. McDonough and Furst sold the company in 1979 to The Franklin Mint, which was acquired by

Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC (doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warner ...

in 1981. Four years later Warner sold the Mint but retained EMS, subsequently selling it to the American Retail Group, owned by the

Brenninkmeijer family Brenninkmeijer () is a Roman Catholic Dutch, German and Swiss family of manufacturers, which own an international chain of clothing stores. Originally the family came from Tecklenburger Land (Westphalia) in Germany, selling linen in Friesland ...

. In July 2003 Will Manzer became President and CEO and shifted the company focus back towards specialty outdoors gear. A new

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

, store reorganization, and a shift from stores in shopping malls to freestanding community-based stores followed. American Retail Group sold Eastern Mountain Sports to investors led by J.H. Whitney & Company in 2004. Bob Mayerson was announced as the new president in March 2010, as Will Manzer continued leading the company. In 2012, Versa Capital Management bought EMS from J.H. Whitney and Mark Walsh became CEO. As of 2013, EMS operated over 70 stores throughout the Northeast US, from Maine to Virginia. In April 2016, Vestis Retail Group, the Versa Capital-owned unit which owned the

Sport Chalet Sport Chalet was a sporting goods chain with 47 stores in Southern & Northern California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. Most stores were over in size, with many including dive pools and offering SCUBA classes. Sport Chalet stores usually featured ...

and

Bob's Stores Bob's Stores was a chain of retail stores in the northeastern United States owned by GoDigital Media Group. Founded as Bob's Surplus in Middletown, Connecticut, by Robert "Bob" Lapidus in 1954, the chain expanded gradually until it was acquired ...

sporting goods chains as well as Eastern Mountain, announced it had filed for

bankruptcy protection Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

and reorganization under

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Vestis said it would reorganize and focus on the operations of Eastern Mountain and Bob's, while all Sport Chalet stores would close. On 19 April 2017, Sports Direct International plc (

Sports Direct Sportsdirect.com Retail Limited, trading as Sports Direct, is a British retail company owned by Frasers Group. The company was founded in 1982 by Mike Ashley (businessman), Mike Ashley and was originally based in Maidenhead, England. It specialises ...

) received permission to acquire

and Eastern Mountain Sports following Eastern Outfitters LLC's

filing. In May 2022, Bob's Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports was acquired by GoDigital Media Group as part of its strategy to generate synergy between content, community and commerce. In June 2024, SDI Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, marking Eastern Mountain Sports' third time in bankruptcy protection. The filing came after the company announced that up to 10 stores would close from both brands. SDI Stores owed millions of dollars in unpaid debt to many of its creditors. As a result of the bankruptcy, the Meriden warehouse will close and all future online ordering purchases will be directed to stores. However, in July 2024, SDI Stores announced that it would permanently close all of its remaining Bob's Stores and a select number of Eastern Mountain Sports locations, with liquidation sales beginning immediately after the announcement. Additional layoffs are also expected to occur by July 5. However, up to 24 Eastern Mountain Sports locations will remain open during the bankruptcy proceedings for now, with 15 Eastern Mountain Sports locations being listed as clearance stores. On September 3, 2024, the chain was acquired by British Outdoor retailer Mountain Warehouse for $10 million. Mountain Warehouse plans to expand the company and open as many as 100 new stores over the next few years.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Companies based in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Economy of the Northeastern United States Sporting goods retailers of the United States Online retailers of the United States American companies established in 1967 Retail companies established in 1967 1967 establishments in Massachusetts Sports Direct Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024 2022 mergers and acquisitions