The retail arm of Vail Resorts decided before the ski season began that it would close several of its Aspen Sports outlets and other stores in Aspen and Snowmass Village, the company said in a statement Monday.
“The decision was made to focus on other strategic priorities,” Vail Resorts said in its statement.
SSI Venture Inc, the retail arm of Vail Resorts, filed notices of closures of nine outlets in Aspen and Snowmass Village with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, according to copies provided by the department. The notices were officially received March 2.
SSI Venture sent individual notices on the pending closure of nine outlets in Aspen and Snowmass Village, with seven of them affiliated with the Aspen Sports brand. The Patagonia and The North Face shops in Snowmass Village will also close. Vail Resorts acquired the local businesses in April 2010.
The closures included the Aspen Sports retail store location on the Snowmass Village Mall.
“The entire store will be closed, the closure of the store is expected to be permanent and all employees employed at the store will be affected,” said the notice to the labor department. “As our leases in the Snowmass area came up for renewal at the end of the 2022/2023 winter season, we needed to make a long-term decision regarding the future strategy of our retail operations in the Snowmass market. At that time, we decided to close down our retail operations in this market in order to focus company resources on serving our core retail markets.”
The closure of the Snowmass Mall store will affect 13 employees, the notice said. “Separations” with employees will occur on May 1, June 1 and July 1.
The other closures affect:
* Aspen Sports-Hyatt, at 415 E. Dean St., Aspen, four employees;
* Aspen Sports-St. Regis, 303 E. Durant Ave., Aspen, nine employees;
* Aspen Sports-Viewline, 100 Elbert Lane, Snowmass Village, four employees;
* Aspen Sports-Demo, 90 Carriage Way, Snowmass Village, five employees;
* Aspen Sports-Tune, 100 Elbert Lane, Snowmass Village, six employees;
* Aspen Sports-Valet, 100 Elbert Lane, Snowmass Village, three employees;
* Patagonia shop, 100 Elbert Lane, Snowmass Village, seven employees;
* The North Face, 100 Elbert Lane, Snowmass Village, six employees.
Another 10 closures were announced to SSI Venture stores in Telluride.
“We are grateful to our employees and partners in Telluride and Aspen — and are working with impacted team members to find new employment opportunities within the Vail Resorts network,” said the statement from Vail Resorts.
The notice to the labor department elaborated further: “Current storefronts are being transitioned to other retailers where possible and current employees have the option to engage with those employers about future employment opportunities,” the notices said.