Ski Market, a retailer of outdoor products and winter sports gear with headquarters in Wellesley, MA, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In court documents, Ski Market's president and chief executive, Andrew Ferguson, said the company had been operating at a loss for several years and the economic downturn and its “negative impact on consumer spending during 2008 and 2009 exacerbated Ski Market's financial problems.”…
Ski Market employs 170 full- and part-time employees in seven retail stores. Its website lists 16 locations, most of which have been shut down. According to its website, only 7 stores remain in operation.
Ferguson wrote, in an affidavit filed with the bankruptcy, that he expects to retain most of the stores' employees through the Chapter 11 process, according to The Boston Globe.
During its 2009 fiscal year, from April 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009, Ski Market reported $22.5 million in gross sales. From April 2009 through mid-December, the company's gross sales were less than $7 million, putting it on pace for at least a 50% percent drop in sales, and possibly much more. Ferguson noted that November and December are usually the stores' busiest months.
Over the summer, facing increasing debt and decreasing sales, Ferguson tried to sell the company but was unsuccessful.
According to court filings, Ski Market owes $4 million to South Shore Savings Bank and just more than $1 million to other creditors. The company also owes $610,000 in rent for its existing locations and carries $4.5 million in trade debt.
The company was created in 1958 as St. Moritz Sports and changed its name to Ski Market in 1971. In his affidavit, Ferguson said the company was one of the first mainstream retailers to embrace the snowboarding hobby. The stores also sell bicycles, skateboards, kayaks, car roof racks, and clothes. Its stores are located in Boston, Framingham, Pembroke, Woburn, Wellessley, MA, as well as Avon, CT and Warwick, RI.
