Consumers who are looking for familiar products formerly sold by Miller’s, or for replacement parts of Miller’s products, may have to wait for half a year or more. Even then, the buyer may have to do some detective work — or at least some solid Internet research for a while longer to find what they want.
Miller Harness Co./EEG has been having trouble fulfilling wholesale orders for the past year. In January, WeatherBeeta USA Inc. of Edison, N.J., announced that it had acquired the name, intellectual property and brands of Miller’s, including Crosby, Collegiate, Everest, Eisers, On Course, Good Hands, Lancers, Roma, Pytchley and Lexington.
A month later, Dover Saddlery of Littleton, Mass., acquired the Miller Harness retail catalog and website. Dover Saddlery says they plan to create a new Miller’s catalog for Fall 2003 and they are redesigning the Miller’s website.
The exact same Miller’s products may not reappear under the same brand names as various manufacturers shift around. The best strategy for consumers will probably be to trust their tack shop or catalog retailer for the latest information about specific products, as the retailers themselves work to restock through sales representatives.
Miller Harness was begun as a family business in 1912. It was sold to MPO Videotronics in 1975 and again to investor Stephen Dent in 1999. Dent purchased EPC, which owned Eisers, and Whitman in 2000 and combined the three to form Miller’s/English Equestrian Group. Miller’s then moved from the New York metro area to rural Washington, N.C.
The familiar Miller’s store in New York City, on 24th Street between Park and Lexington, is now occupied by a new tack shop, Copperfields New York. It has been restocked with products from a wide range of upscale venders.
