I found out about this last week (industry insider info and all). There were several possibilities on what was going to happen to the chain. One of the possibilities was that ALL but 15 stores were going to close. I didn't know for sure about the Colo Spr store until today. Darrin, the Mgr of the Colo Spr. store must have found out on Friday or Saturday - he was in a very bad mood Sat.
I really like the store but have been sick of their lack of stock. Colorado Springs really NEEDS a store like this as we don't have the same options that the Denver area has for firearms/outdoor sporting goods retailers.
Their lack of stock has been because the existing owners were short on funds and didn't want to shell out any more $ into the chain if they were going to sell it. The Canadian buyer (UFA) was supposed to buy all of the stores - lock, stock, and barrel. They've been working to get the financing to purchase it all but 2 weeks ago the $ fell through, leaving them far short of making the total purchase. Apparently, the current owners are in such tight finances themselves that they figured that selling 15 stores (all that UFA can afford) was better than nothing.
There is still a lot of uncertainty with the remaining stores, even after the decision to close the 23 stores identified. IF the existing owners can get the $ to restock the stores being left open, they might have a chance. If not, these stores will surely be closing within the year.
Colo Spr has been laying off many of it's employees (stop by Specialty Sports and say hi to Matt who was let go on Feb 13th by Sportsmans - he's friendly and knowledgable about firearms and reloading). The Springs could still lose this store but I pray we don't. With the very real possibility that Shootin Den will be closing it's doors this month, if Sportsman's closes the Springs will really only have one place to go for firearm/accessory purchases and that's never good for the consumer. [NOTE: Of course, we have folks like our Industry Partners from this site who operate out of the Springs, but I don't know of any other store-front businesses.]
