Boulder Clean products sit on a checkout counter at a Home Depot store. (Facebook)
A company that makes eco-friendly cleaning products is under the control of a court-appointed caretaker after it was sued by a local bank that it allegedly owes $13.5 million to.
1908 Brands was founded in Boulder and moved to Aurora last year, around the time it stopped making pasta sauce and marinades to focus exclusively on its Boulder Clean brand.
The company has been sued four times in the past 21 months by suppliers and lenders who say it can’t pay its bills. In the latest and most serious case, First Western Trust Bank alleged Feb. 3 that 1908 Brands and a sister company owe $13.45 million in unpaid loans.
In addition to suing 1908, First Western asked Denver District Court Judge Martin Egelhoff to appoint a receiver to “collect all income generated by 1908 Brands and all rents generated by” its property at 3640 Walnut St. in Boulder, which First Western says it’s entitled to.
Egelhoff agreed Feb. 8 that the receiver Pear Partners in Lafayette should manage 1908 Brands indefinitely. The judge’s order gives Pear Partners the right to sell the company’s property, control its bank accounts, change its locks and move its profits into a new account.
1908 Brands and its executives did not respond to several requests for comment.
First Western wrote in its lawsuit that it agreed to lend $8.75 million to 1908 Brands in March 2022. For collateral, 1908 “granted a security interest in all of its personal property.”
That same month, First Western loaned 1908 another $1 million, then made a third loan of $3.7 million. In addition to all of 1908 Brands’ property, other collateral for the loans includes the Boulder property, which is owned by Steve Savage, founder of 1908 Brands.
After Savage and 1908 Brands failed to make payments on the loans in the fall and winter, First Western sued them for breach of contract. They have not yet responded in court.
First Western says it didn’t know other companies were suing 1908 Brands when it agreed to lend it millions of dollars last year, in part because 1908 never disclosed that.
In Boulder, a four-day trial is set to begin April 10 that will pit 1908 Brands against Marquis XT, a packaging company out of Illinois that sued 1908 Brands in May 2021, claiming it is owed $1.2 million for multisurface disinfectant. 1908 Brands disputes that.
In January 2022, 1908 and Savage were sued by a trucking company, Logistics Xpress, that said it was hired by 1908 but not paid. The case was settled a few months later.
In August 2022, a Utah-based company called TT Red Solution sued 1908 and Savage, accusing them of agreeing to buy $360,000 worth of canisters and wipes for its Boulder Clean brand and then failing to make any payments. That case was settled in November.
Boulder Clean products sit on a checkout counter at a Home Depot store. (Facebook)
A company that makes eco-friendly cleaning products is under the control of a court-appointed caretaker after it was sued by a local bank that it allegedly owes $13.5 million to.
1908 Brands was founded in Boulder and moved to Aurora last year, around the time it stopped making pasta sauce and marinades to focus exclusively on its Boulder Clean brand.
The company has been sued four times in the past 21 months by suppliers and lenders who say it can’t pay its bills. In the latest and most serious case, First Western Trust Bank alleged Feb. 3 that 1908 Brands and a sister company owe $13.45 million in unpaid loans.
In addition to suing 1908, First Western asked Denver District Court Judge Martin Egelhoff to appoint a receiver to “collect all income generated by 1908 Brands and all rents generated by” its property at 3640 Walnut St. in Boulder, which First Western says it’s entitled to.
Egelhoff agreed Feb. 8 that the receiver Pear Partners in Lafayette should manage 1908 Brands indefinitely. The judge’s order gives Pear Partners the right to sell the company’s property, control its bank accounts, change its locks and move its profits into a new account.
1908 Brands and its executives did not respond to several requests for comment.
First Western wrote in its lawsuit that it agreed to lend $8.75 million to 1908 Brands in March 2022. For collateral, 1908 “granted a security interest in all of its personal property.”
That same month, First Western loaned 1908 another $1 million, then made a third loan of $3.7 million. In addition to all of 1908 Brands’ property, other collateral for the loans includes the Boulder property, which is owned by Steve Savage, founder of 1908 Brands.
After Savage and 1908 Brands failed to make payments on the loans in the fall and winter, First Western sued them for breach of contract. They have not yet responded in court.
First Western says it didn’t know other companies were suing 1908 Brands when it agreed to lend it millions of dollars last year, in part because 1908 never disclosed that.
In Boulder, a four-day trial is set to begin April 10 that will pit 1908 Brands against Marquis XT, a packaging company out of Illinois that sued 1908 Brands in May 2021, claiming it is owed $1.2 million for multisurface disinfectant. 1908 Brands disputes that.
In January 2022, 1908 and Savage were sued by a trucking company, Logistics Xpress, that said it was hired by 1908 but not paid. The case was settled a few months later.
In August 2022, a Utah-based company called TT Red Solution sued 1908 and Savage, accusing them of agreeing to buy $360,000 worth of canisters and wipes for its Boulder Clean brand and then failing to make any payments. That case was settled in November.
