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United States News Title: Sportsman's Warehouse (Billings, MT) 45 jobs lost Thursday will be last day for Sportsman’s Warehouse * Story * Discussion DIANE COCHRAN and JAN FALSTAD Of The Gazette Staff | Posted: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 2:15 pm | (79) Comments Employees and customers at Sportsman’s Warehouse were in shock Wednesday after learning that the outdoors store would close Thursday, just 18 months after opening. “It came out of nowhere,” said store manager Brad Hodl. “I got a phone call at 10 o’clock (Wednesday) morning.” It was up to Hodl to notify about 45 employees that their jobs would be gone by the end of February. At the close of business Thursday, workers will begin packaging up merchandise to be shipped to other Sportsman’s Warehouse loca-tions. “We will get a bonus if we stay through,” a visibly shaken Hodl said. The store, located off Zoo Drive, is a casualty of failed lease negotiations. “We have been engaged in an ongoing discussion with the building’s owners but have been unable to either extend the current lease or negotiate a new lease agreement,” the company’s CEO, John Schaefer, said in a press release. “While our experience in Billings has been very successful, we are put in the unenviable position of having to vacate the premises.” The building is owned by McGillis and Eckman Investments of Salt Lake City. It was built for Sportsman’s Ware-house in 2008. The outdoors company liked the Billings market and wanted to stay, according to chief mar-keting officer Karen Seaman. “They took a position we couldn’t accept. They left us in a position where leaving was our only choice,” Seaman said, adding the company was sur-prised it couldn’t negotiate another lease and has to vacate the building by March 1. No further information was available whether another business has been lined up to lease the 3676 Pierce Parkway store. Customers will get 10 percent off most merchandise during a closeout sale Thursday. Fire-arms, optics and electronics will be marked down 5 percent. The news came as a disappointment to Jake Jovanovich, who’s been organizing a hunting tournament that was scheduled to kick off at the store Thursday. Instead, the opening ceremony of the Obsessed Outdoors’ Seventh Annual Predator Classic will begin at 6 p.m. at the FOE, Eagles Lodge, at 526 Laurie Lane in the Heights. “They were the main contributor,” Jovanovich said. “They still donated two rifles and some gift cards.” He found out about the store’s closing Wednesday morning and organizers scrambled for a new location by evening. “I just feel bad for the 35 people who work there,” he said. Hunters whose mounts have been displayed on the store’s walls began picking them Wednesday afternoon. “I was actually pretty shocked,” said taxidermist Don Keever as he loaded an African kudu mount into a trailer. “I love it here. You’re picture’s on the wall and everybody knows you.” Keever said four Sportsman’s Warehouse employees had called him asking for work, but he is not hiring. “It’s unfortunate it had to come down like this,” said Phil Gonzalez, the kudu hunter. “Billings can only accommodate so many sports businesses.” Customers leaving the store Wednesday wondered if the closure was related to the recent opening of Cabela’s, which launched its first Montana store near the South Billings Boulevard exit of Interstate 90. Cabela’s and Sportsman’s Warehouse are among a handful of large outdoors stores that compete for business in Billings. “They had a lot of competition,” said Dick Buckley, a regular at the store. “It’s just unfortunate they have to close.” Buckley said the store supported a Christian sportsman group run by his church, Em-manuel Baptist. “I met a lot of guys, and the customer service was very good,” he said. “The guys were extremely knowledgeable.” Seidler Equity Partners, a pri-vate equity investment company in Marina Del Rey, Calif., owned 25 percent of Sportsman’s Warehouse as of a year ago and now owns 100 percent of the company. In 2009, Sportsman’s Warehouse closed 23 stores and sold off another 15, including stores in Bozeman, Helena and Missoula. The Montana stores and a dozen others were sold to UFA Cooperative Limited of Calgary, Alberta. Despite that downsizing, last March Sportsman’s Warehouse filed for bankruptcy in Delaware to reorganize its finances. Also last year, company offi-cials blamed their cash flow problems on poor sales and the global economic slowdown. Founder and former chief ex-ecutive Stu Utgaard has left the company, Seaman said. “If people have layaway mer-chandise, they can either pick it up or we’ll issue a refund for the next couple of days,” Seaman said. After the closure of the Bill-ings location, Sportsman’s Warehouse will operate 25 stores.
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