Tenterfield Saddler: The historic 153-year-old rural business immortalised by Peter Allen is up for sale

A 153-year-old rural business that was immortalised in Australian singer-songwriter Peter Allen’s 1972 song Tenterfield Saddler has hit the market and is up for sale.

Based in the New England town of Tenterfield, 20km south of the Queensland border, the Tenterfield Saddler still occupies the original heritage-listed blue granite, tin-roofed building on High Street.

The saddlery was purchased by Allen’s grandfather George Woolnough in 1908, who operated it until his retirement in 1960. The song Tenterfield Saddler was a tribute to Allen’s past and grandfather.

The land on which the saddlery stands was originally bought in 1858 by Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson, who later became the first NSW Premier. The first saddler opened for business on the site in 1870. The building later was a bank then a private home for 21 years before the next saddler opened in 1897 and the property has been a saddlery ever since. 

Woolnough was the third saddler to use the premises and was followed by several more.

Today the store, which sells Australian handcrafted leather goods and Tenterfield Saddler-branded merchandise, is a key tourist destination that is staffed by volunteers.

Brisbane-based couple Brian and Lana Meldon bought the Tenterfield Saddler as a working saddlery in 1995. They trademarked the Tenterfield Saddler name internationally and built an authentic, Australian-owned and made brand, successfully running the business for 28 years.

Source: Supplied

Brian Meldon died in 2021 and his wife has now decided the time is right to find an entrepreneurial investor willing to reinvigorate the renowned store and the brand. She wants to sell the store, its stock and the well-known trademarks to someone able to invest care and capital to nurture the brand and build the business.

In the past, there have been Tenterfield Saddler concept stores on the Gold Coast and at Breakfast Creek Wharf in Brisbane, branded beer on tap in pubs, and a range of traditional country-style high-quality merchandise, including clothing, leather goods, stock whips and saddles, available at the store or by mail order. The products have been purchased by a wide array of major Australian corporate clients to use as promotional gifts.

Dianne Reynolds, from Lloyds Corporate Brokers, who is managing the sale, said it is an opportunity to save an iconic Australian brand.

“The family is ready to sell this much-loved business and the countless opportunities available through its registered trademarks and retail outlet,” she said.

“This is an opportunity to save an iconic Australian brand and rebuild a business that is older than RM Williams and has a deep heritage. The registered intellectual property gives a new owner a platform to expand the Tenterfield Saddler brand, capitalising on the continued popularity of Peter Allen’s song.

“There’s an opportunity to garner international online sales of Tenterfield Saddler merchandise, through maintaining and expanding the brand’s unique rural Australian flavour and implementing a marketing campaign.”

The sale includes the shop front property on 705sq m of land and stock in the store. A key asset is a range of trademarks, including the name and the logo, which features a silhouette of a stockman, based on the statue outside the Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Longreach, Queensland.

The building was classified by the National Trust in 1972 and, apart from maintenance and essential restoration work, is in original condition.

Lloyds Corporate Brokers has invited expressions of interest from potential purchasers.