Trouts Fly Fishing owner Tucker Ladd stands outside Lincoln Park store in 2020. (BusinessDen file)
The state has released a fly fishing shop along Interstate 25 that it seized last week.
Tucker Ladd, owner of Trouts Fly Fishing at 1025 Zuni St., said in a statement on Thursday that “we have taken steps to rectify our tax issues, and are working to determine the best options for the business moving forward.”
Ladd said the brick-and-mortar locations in Denver and Frisco will remain closed for the time being, but Trouts’ website will still accept orders.
In the statement, which Ladd said he was sending to customers, he acknowledged the closure “has unquestionably shaken our customers and created significant speculation as to the future of our business.”
“The past number of years have presented Trouts with amazing opportunities and extraordinary challenges, and it is my hope to keep the Trouts brand alive and strong moving forward,” Ladd said.
The at 1025 Zuni St. in Denver last week. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
The state posted notices at the property Oct. 24 saying the business had been seized due to $67,000 in unpaid taxes. Maria Madera, a tax compliance agent for the Colorado Department of Revenue, said in an email that the business was returned to Ladd last Friday, Oct. 27. A department spokeswoman said Ladd paid the amount in full.
The government hasn’t been the only one trying to get paid by Trouts. The business, legally known as High Country Anglers Inc., also faces two lawsuits over unpaid bills — one from a supplier and another from an owner of property the company used for fly fishing tours. The two firms allege they’re collectively owed $210,000.
Others just haven’t gone to court. Dylan Rothwell, owner of Rising Fish, a fly fishing manufacturing company that makes gear such as nets and tools, told BusinessDen Ladd still owes him roughly $9,000 for gear, and others are in the same position.
“He didn’t make friends in the industry before things went bad by being a horrible bill payer,” Rothwell said of Ladd.
Rothwell said Trouts was a “top-five dealer,” but said he stopped doing business with the retailer about nine months ago after not receiving payments.
“There were probably millions of dollars running through that shop every year,” he said. “Where’s it going?”
Ladd bought Trouts from its original owner in 2005. He moved the shop from 6th Avenue in Country Club to the current site in the Lincoln Park neighborhood in 2020. A year later, Ladd purchased the 5,000-square-foot building at 1025 Zuni St. for $1.8 million, records show.
Trouts Fly Fishing owner Tucker Ladd stands outside Lincoln Park store in 2020. (BusinessDen file)
The state has released a fly fishing shop along Interstate 25 that it seized last week.
Tucker Ladd, owner of Trouts Fly Fishing at 1025 Zuni St., said in a statement on Thursday that “we have taken steps to rectify our tax issues, and are working to determine the best options for the business moving forward.”
Ladd said the brick-and-mortar locations in Denver and Frisco will remain closed for the time being, but Trouts’ website will still accept orders.
In the statement, which Ladd said he was sending to customers, he acknowledged the closure “has unquestionably shaken our customers and created significant speculation as to the future of our business.”
“The past number of years have presented Trouts with amazing opportunities and extraordinary challenges, and it is my hope to keep the Trouts brand alive and strong moving forward,” Ladd said.
The at 1025 Zuni St. in Denver last week. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
The state posted notices at the property Oct. 24 saying the business had been seized due to $67,000 in unpaid taxes. Maria Madera, a tax compliance agent for the Colorado Department of Revenue, said in an email that the business was returned to Ladd last Friday, Oct. 27. A department spokeswoman said Ladd paid the amount in full.
The government hasn’t been the only one trying to get paid by Trouts. The business, legally known as High Country Anglers Inc., also faces two lawsuits over unpaid bills — one from a supplier and another from an owner of property the company used for fly fishing tours. The two firms allege they’re collectively owed $210,000.
Others just haven’t gone to court. Dylan Rothwell, owner of Rising Fish, a fly fishing manufacturing company that makes gear such as nets and tools, told BusinessDen Ladd still owes him roughly $9,000 for gear, and others are in the same position.
“He didn’t make friends in the industry before things went bad by being a horrible bill payer,” Rothwell said of Ladd.
Rothwell said Trouts was a “top-five dealer,” but said he stopped doing business with the retailer about nine months ago after not receiving payments.
“There were probably millions of dollars running through that shop every year,” he said. “Where’s it going?”
Ladd bought Trouts from its original owner in 2005. He moved the shop from 6th Avenue in Country Club to the current site in the Lincoln Park neighborhood in 2020. A year later, Ladd purchased the 5,000-square-foot building at 1025 Zuni St. for $1.8 million, records show.
