After almost 18 years Chivalry Sports is closing its doors!

[John]

After almost 18 years Chivalry Sports is closing its doors!

"But don't be disheartened, we are giving you a 30% discount on everything that is still in stock before it is gone for good!
We want all our customers to know how much we appreciate their friendship and patronage over the years. Now we are moving on so we must sell everything in-stock. Come browse our online store without delay to see what is still available. It is all on sale! We may be lowering the prices even more before we close up for good but, the selection dwindles with every passing hour. If you are visiting Tucson soon, come in to our storefront and ask about specials in the store.

All sales final, all items sold as is. No returns except for mis-shipments and no warranties. No checks or money orders through the mail. No foreign orders except to US military addresses.

www.renstore.com

[chainshot]

Wow I just got the same email earlier today!  Being a long time customer I was pretty surprised.  With everything going on today I have to say that has been one heck of a day!

[Adriana Rose]

No way!

[renfairephotog]

That's bad news.

[NoBill Lurker]

Yes I too received that email yesterday.
It makes me sad, as if it wasn't for them I would have never found these wonderful Forums here. 

[Aaroncois]

I bought my first set of garb there and got their print catalog for years. Heck, I still wear the moccasin-boots I bought there. They had a lot of neat stuff, though I always felt that the quality was on the low side and the price was on the high side. Even at 30% off, I was browsing their site and didn't feel like anything was a terrific bargain. I'll check back in a week or so - when things get to 50% off, I might be inclined to buy.

I liked their articles quite a bit, though, and it was a nice one-stop shop for Renn stuff, even if sometimes it was just to get ideas.

Ooh, I wonder who will snap up the Renstore.com URL? Hopefully somebody good steps in to fill the void. It seems like an online department store for Renn stuff would be a money-maker, if not necessarily one of Wal-mart proportions. If I were more of an entrepreneur I'd do it myself. 

[Lady Christina de Pond]

dang thats what that email says i haven't read it yet.

[Blushing]

Hmmm ... wonder if an etsy-ebay-like store would do well?

[Lady Neysa]

I saw this email yesterday too.  I wonder if their closing is due to the tough economic climate, or if they chose to move on for other reasons.   I've never shopped there a lot - I only own one piece of garb from them, and a book.  Their site is one of the first ones I found when I first started getting into garb and ren stuff. Just like Aaroncois said,  I used to look at their site ALL the time to get ideas, and I liked all the articles and stuff. I really used to look forward to getting the paper catalog,(still have a bunch of old ones) and loved the large variety of items they sold.  They've sort of been with me right from the beginning and it's sad to see them go away. 

[Rhiannon]

Well, that sucks! Teach me not to read my e-mail!

[Rhiannon]

I just went to the Chilvary Sports website and there was nothing on there about the store closing. You'd think that they'd post that up on the website, since some of us don't always read their e-mail in a timely fashion.

[Aiacha]

*thread necromancy*

I hopped over there to see what was going on after a question about feast gear and I saw this...

A door closes but another one opens.
Thanks to your devotion!

Because of the huge response we received
after announcing the closing of Chivalry Sports,
we have decided to relaunch Renstore.com!

Our customers have been writing and calling to tell us how sad they are that we are closing. They have told us about all the good times they have had wearing clothing from Chivalry Sports and how much they will miss us. We were taken aback by the sheer numbers of emails and orders from devoted customers and it made us revisit our decision.

After challenging all our assumptions about the costs of running a business we have found a way to save money and keep our business going, even in these hard times. But it means streamlining the whole show.

A new beginning...a new look!

So it is with great pleasure I am announcing that after a very short absence, Renstore.com will be back with a new online store. It will look very much like our old store but it won't have as many bells and whistles. Gone is the wishlist and bridal registry, and you won't be allowed to keep your baskets open for more than 48 hours. There will be fewer departments and products.

We still have all your favorite clothing items and we are adding some new ones, too. Over the next couple months I will be designing fresh new clothing items and looking for some really cool products that we can offer for a limited time at great prices. We are trying to keep all the newsletter story archives and other features that we hve always provided, but they may take more time to implement.

So, look for my next email in about a week. I will be announcing the grand opening of our new website, which will still be found at www.renstore.com in a few weeks! If you have an open order with us now, rest assured that it will be transfered over to the new store and fulfilled as soon as possible. We will still have the same toll-free phone number of 1-800-730-KING, so you can call us, even during the transition. You can also email us at customerservice@chivalrysports.com.

[Khaalis]

I may be biased as I've never been a huge fan of Chivalry, but I smell a marketing ploy.