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Eastern Mountain Sports (or EMS) is an outdoor apparel and equipment retailer in the U.S. Northeast. It is headquartered in Peterborough, New Hampshire. EMS sells outdoor equipment and clothing from brands like The North Face and Merrell, and also their own, less-expensive EMS line. They also offer classes and climbing schools in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and in the Gunks. Until September 2004, EMS was privately owned by the American Retail Group, which in turn was owned by the secretive Brenninkmeijer family that also owned C&A. EMS is now owned by the EMS Management Group, led by EMS's current President and CEO, Will Manzer.
History
EMS was founded in 1967 in Wellesley, Massachusetts by two rock climbers, who couldn't find the selection of gear they wanted anywhere else. Alan Tower McDonough, lead founder of the company, was born in Colorado in 1936. When he was a young man he wanted to start a rock climbing company, but there was too much competition in Colorado. He then decided to move to New England to open a store called The Mountain Shop, which later became Eastern Mountain Sports. Some years ago when they experienced financial problems, a new president was appointed, and she turned the company around, partly by attracting non-outdoor enthusiasts into the store through day-to-day clothing and a wide range of items such as school backpacks. Since Will Manzer became President and CEO in September 2004, EMS has focused back towards being a specialty outdoors gear store. This started with a new logo and a reorganization of all their stores. In the recent past EMS were heavily focused in malls, but the company has decided to slowly move towards more self-standing stores.
Operations and policies
EMS employees go through a training program, now mostly online using a Flash-like interface, but only accessible through store computers. The program covers everything from store policies, to the products they sell (e.g. how fleece is made, how GPS works), to product-specific information (e.g. how to fit hiking boots and tricks for tying shoelaces), to general sales techniques (e.g. how to close the deal). EMS was also home to a Stop on the First leg of The Amazing Race: Family Edition
