Shorts and a T-shirt from the Telluride company Western Rise. (Instagram)
The Telluride-based outdoor apparel company Western Rise has filed for bankruptcy to give itself some “breathing room to reorganize operations,” according to its president.
Western Rise sells men’s clothes that are meant for travel and are slightly upscale. An average pair of pants costs $130. The married couple Kelly and Will Watters, who met while they were ski instructors in Vail and later moved to Telluride, founded the company in 2015.
“We have nine full-time employees and four that live in Telluride,” Kelly Watters said from the pricy town in 2019. “To come back and provide jobs is a really cool place to be.”
Its more recent financial problems “are the result of a few issues,” Watters says now.
Western Rise “is required to make an initial outlay to have the clothing products made and recoups those funds via sales over the ensuing six to eight months,” she explained in a sworn affidavit June 19. “As a result, the company had early issues with profitability.”
Western Rise “funded those losses by adding new debt beyond its ability to service the debt,” Watters went on to say under oath. “This caused the company’s issues to snowball.”
Western Rise now has three employees and four independent contractors, according to the affidavit. Watters did not answer requests to discuss her company in fuller detail.
Western Rise has $3.4 million in assets, primarily its $2.8 million in inventory and estimated $550,000 in goodwill. It owes $5.3 million to 40 creditors, led by Oregon clothesmaker The S Group ($2.4 million) and Denver investment firm Greenline Ventures ($1.7 million).
Its bankruptcy lawyer is Jonathan Dickey with Kutner Brinen Dickey Riley in Denver.
Shorts and a T-shirt from the Telluride company Western Rise. (Instagram)
The Telluride-based outdoor apparel company Western Rise has filed for bankruptcy to give itself some “breathing room to reorganize operations,” according to its president.
Western Rise sells men’s clothes that are meant for travel and are slightly upscale. An average pair of pants costs $130. The married couple Kelly and Will Watters, who met while they were ski instructors in Vail and later moved to Telluride, founded the company in 2015.
“We have nine full-time employees and four that live in Telluride,” Kelly Watters said from the pricy town in 2019. “To come back and provide jobs is a really cool place to be.”
Its more recent financial problems “are the result of a few issues,” Watters says now.
Western Rise “is required to make an initial outlay to have the clothing products made and recoups those funds via sales over the ensuing six to eight months,” she explained in a sworn affidavit June 19. “As a result, the company had early issues with profitability.”
Western Rise “funded those losses by adding new debt beyond its ability to service the debt,” Watters went on to say under oath. “This caused the company’s issues to snowball.”
Western Rise now has three employees and four independent contractors, according to the affidavit. Watters did not answer requests to discuss her company in fuller detail.
Western Rise has $3.4 million in assets, primarily its $2.8 million in inventory and estimated $550,000 in goodwill. It owes $5.3 million to 40 creditors, led by Oregon clothesmaker The S Group ($2.4 million) and Denver investment firm Greenline Ventures ($1.7 million).
Its bankruptcy lawyer is Jonathan Dickey with Kutner Brinen Dickey Riley in Denver.
