It's Small Business Saturday. Are you shopping at your local tack shop or do you shop at the Walmarts of the tack world? We have a select group of tack shops that carry Five Star's bridles. Sometimes they even have better pricing than what you'll see on our website. These shops have products that are carefully selected for quality as well as product differentiation from what the large stores have. They also have great service and knowledgeable sales people.
Some of my favorites and where you'll find a good selection of Five Star Tack's bridles are: The Tack Box in Middleburg, VA. They carry both our hunter and eventing style bridles as well as breastplates. Ask for Berk when you go. She's the best! The Tack Shelter in Colts Neck, NJ has many of our bridles. Located in the middle of horse country, they are a well known store and can expertly fit your horse with one of our bridles. They also carry our bridles in their mobile unit. In Pennsylvania you can find both our hunter bridles and figure eight bridles at Bit of Heaven Tack in Pottstown. They have a large selection of tack and apparel along with great service. The Paddock in Connecticut has a good selection our hunter bridles. We don't have many shops out west but Alta Hills Tack in Sandy, Utah exclusively carries Five Star bridles. For a complete list of stores see this list.
While people may complain that their local tack store doesn't have the prices or huge selection that the big box stores have, the better tack stores are more like boutiques. Realizing that you can't always compete with the big stores they often carry products you can't find at the big stores as well as carrying the products their customers want. Plus the smaller shops can give you a level of service not possible online. There is nothing like being greeted by name when you walk into your local store!
It's harder for tack stores to compete on price with the big guys because they are not able to purchase the big volume of an item to get a price advantage. The big stores and manufacturers are all very well funded. In many cases they are either publicly traded companies or owned by private equity firms. We all like to get a good deal but if smaller businesses can't compete with the Walmarts then they will have difficulty surviving. That unique selection you enjoy at your local shop may be gone if that shop has to close. Then your choice will be limited to what the mass producers carry. Even us small online merchants are not immune to the challenges of going against the "big guys".
So get out there and shop small today!
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Monday, November 12, 2012
Want To Win A Bridle?
How often do you rely on a product review when deciding to make a purchase? If you're like many of us, feedback on a product can influence whether to purchase or move on. Especially when buying tack, since you can't feel it, a product review either positive or negative can influence your decision. On our end a review helps us to know what we are doing right as well as where we need to improve.
If you have purchased a Five Star bridle, breastplate or one of our other strap goods over the years, you are invited to leave a review - it's easy! Simply go to fivestartack.com, locate the product you own and scroll down the page to where it says post a review. Every review posted between today and November 30th will be entered into a drawing for your choice of either a Wembley Hunter Bridle, Wyndham Dressage Bridle or Chelsea figure eight bridle (all less reins). If you own more than one of our products you can get more than one entry into the drawing! Just leave a review for each product.
The winner will be chosen in a random drawing on December 1st. The winner's name will be posted here, as well as on Five Star Tack's facebook page and on fivestartack.com. With the holiday's coming you could be the winner of a beautiful bridle for your horse or give it to your favorite trainer or a horse crazy family member. It would make a great barn gift too!
Wembley Hunter Bridle
Good luck!
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