On the record · Other
Eastern Outfitters (Bob's Stores / Eastern Mountain Sports)
Holding company for Bob's Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports, formed by private equity firm Versa Capital Management after its Vestis Retail Group filed Chapter 11 in 2016; Eastern Outfitters itself filed Chapter 11 in February 2017 and was sold to Sports Direct.
Research depth
Outcomes researched
Reviewed operating findings or a classified operating outcome are available.
Record updated Sept. 4, 2026
Current ownership
Current owner not established
This record does not identify a current owner. That absence is a gap in the record, not a conclusion about ownership.
1 ownership record has an unresolved current/former status.
Ownership and transaction history
Chronology from recorded ownership periods, transactions and reviewed outcome events. Event order does not imply causation.
Feb. 5, 2017
Operations ceased
Operating outcome
April 19, 2017
Revival or successor activity recorded
Operating outcome
Date not recorded
What happened under and after ownership
Operating outcome
Ceased operations, then returned
Versa Capital's Vestis Retail Group filed Chapter 11 in April 2016 and closed all Sport Chalet stores; the renamed Eastern Outfitters holding company (Bob's Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports) filed its own Chapter 11 in February 2017 and planned to close 48 of 86 stores.
Sports Direct International bought Bob's Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports for $101 million in April 2017 and kept both operating.
Bob's Stores closed for good in mid-2024, while Eastern Mountain Sports operates about six stores under UK retailer Mountain Warehouse as of late 2025.
- Founded
- 1954
- Sponsor at closure
- Versa Capital Management
- Retail Dive · February 2017 Eastern Outfitters Chapter 11 filing under Versa Capital ownership
- Retail Dive · plan to close 48 of 86 stores during the 2017 bankruptcy
- Wikipedia · TJX sold Bob's Stores to Versa Capital Management and Crystal Capital in 2008, forming Vestis Retail Group; Sports Direct bought Bob's and EMS for $101 million
- Wikipedia · founded 1967; ownership chain through Versa Capital (2012) and Sports Direct (2017); GoDigital's June 2024 Chapter 11 (EMS's third bankruptcy); Mountain Warehou
What we do not know
These are gaps in the public record, not findings about the organization.
- No current public ownership assessment has been published.
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