Pet products merchant PetSmart is exploring strategic opportunities for its State Line Tack direct business. It is also removing the State Line Tack departments from the 180 PetSmart stores in which the brand has a presence.
State Line Tack represented just 2% of the Phoenix-based retailer’s $4.23 billion in sales last year. Bruce Richardson, director of external communications for PetSmart, says that the company’s core cat and dog business is much more profitable and that it cannot service its equine customers as well as its other customers.
“It’s a great business with a strong customer base,” Richardson says. “It’s just not the right fit for us. Someone looking to get into the equine-care business could find plenty of things attractive about what it has to offer.”
State Line Tack was founded as a retail store in New Hampshire and branched out to circulars and catalogs before being acquired by PetSmart in 1996. In addition to its print catalogs, State Line Tack has an e-commerce Website distinct from that of PetSmart. State Line Tack has its own distribution center and contact center in Brockport, NY.