I was at the Kentucky Three Day Event last weekend and was told by a Smartpak representative that they are moving away from the tack/attire side of things and are going to refocus on only supplements. Has anyone else heard this? Anyone have any insider information on how quickly this is going to happen?
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I hope not because I love their sun shirts 
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No insider info here but it makes me think about this possibly being a response to tariffs and increased costs of importing tack items and clothing. Concentrating on the animal health side of the business to grow profits and shedding the tariff-affected part of the business makes sense to me.
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They’ve been downsizing for a long time. They fired their in-house marketing team a while back. There have been big changes at the company since they were bought up by Covetrus, which is not an apparel or horse supply brand. I have a friend who used to work for them and interviewed for them myself as a copywriter when they were a company “in transition.”
I’m sure everyone has noticed a change in the tone of their advertising and social media, which used to be much more fun and “we know you, crazy horse people” in tone.
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Could it be a possibility, an option, if the tariffs continue and/or come through?
Some businesses see grim options, but are not yet affected. There is no predicting the future on tariffs, for the present time.
But all businesses must assess their response to various future possibilities as tariff messages continue to change.
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They still have in-house marketing (I know two of the people personally who do the job). They are moving back towards what they were originally…supplements etc. They will still carry other products for horses and dogs etc. just not in the depth they used to have. It has nothing to do with tariffs, this started over a year ago.
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And they closed their retail store in Natick, Massachusetts.
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They did fire quite a few people, though (I personally know someone who was let go)! I’m glad they have some in-house still, but she said they were outsourcing portions that used to be internal and doing a major brand shift. (She was mainly in the rider apparel section.)
But yes, it’s now mainly supplement/healthcare, agreed.
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Ingredients in supplements are tariff affected: particularly amino acids, vitamins C, E, A, B-complex, herbs, etc. China dominates the global market in many supplement ingredients. Other specialty ingredients come from Canada, the EU, India.
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I noticed that too when I was at the event but didn’t stop in the booth to see what was up. I was a bit disappointed as I’m looking for a new bridle and figured they’d have something.
Also interesting was Chewy Equine’s presence for, I think, the first time. We did pop in to that booth and one of the reps asked me if I bought anything from them. I said yes, besides my cat food and litter I buy vitamin e for my home ponies (boarded pony gets SmartPaks). He then asked what was missing and I told him I use Crack Down from Equine Elixers and he said ok we’ll get that. Not sure that will be possible but…it was interesting that they are going all in on Equine it seems.
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yes…they had layoffs all around and shifted some people to other positions. My point is that they still have marketing people in house.
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Chewy has approached a number of equine supplement companies in the last nine months. But Chewy takes a large percentage for their margins, and their requirements for shipping/storage/returns is (I kid you not) a PDF of 50 pages. They have requirements even for the shrink wrap on pallets, and if the pallet doesn’t arrive in the correct shrink-wrapped way, the order is refused.
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I stand corrected! 
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Smartpak is also selling supplements to Dover Saddlery now so no longer compete with them in other areas.
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Yes, though from a purely consumer perspective… Smartpak retail store in Natick was taken over by Greenhawk. I don’t think many of us would know the difference if we didn’t see the signage on the front door; the interior pretty much looks the same and with a similar selection of everything, to me. (I’m not buying big items, as I already have stuff that still works for me, so I’m not paying that much attention.) To be totally superficial, I like Greenhawk’s riding shirt selection better, and I like that the models in the window are not all size 2. 
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That’s not at all shocking. You should see requirements for Sam’s club/Costco/Walmart. Proper shrink wrap is important for the safety of the people unloading trucks as well as the pallet/load stability during shipping.
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I wouldn’t be shocked. I’ve been trying to get in touch with a Smartpak customer service rep for three days now. The chat function seems to now just be decor on their website.
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I’ve had better luck using their text service.
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I’ve been waiting for the chat to work, too! Haven’t been able to get the PERKS or USEF discount codes to apply to my cart.
That is also my problem.
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