Andrew Brewer, the owner of the two Langdon Street businesses, made the announcement Monday. Onion River Sports has been a fixture in downtown Montpelier since 1974.
In a post on Facebook, Brewer said it was with a “heavy heart” that he announced the decision to close the stores. “I know this comes as a shock to a lot of people,” he said in an interview, “because we are one of the stalwart retail operations in town and we’ve kept our financial situation close to the vest.”
Brewer said the decision was especially difficult “not least of all because it means the end of employment for an incredible group of talented, loyal, and hard-working staff that have come to feel like family.”
Over the past few weeks, Onion River and The Shoe Horn struggled to meet payroll. “It is clear now that we do not have the funds and can no longer access the vendor extended credit necessary to get winter inventory in the stores,” Brewer said.
He tried to sell the two stores over the past few months but was unable to find a buyer.
“It would be great if there was a last-ditch effort and someone would buy Onion River Sports,” Brewer said.
Brewer, 51, has spent most of his adult life at Onion River Sports, working as a sales clerk as a teenager and later becoming the store manager. He bought the business from Warren Kitzmiller in 2000. Running the bike and ski store is “the only job I’ve ever had,” Brewer said.
“It’s taken me several months to think about not being at Onion River,” he said.
A decade ago Brewer began a successful online e-commerce site with a warehouse in Berlin where he sold bike and ski racks. The company, however, became embroiled in a two-year lawsuit over control of e-commerce sales. Although Brewer eventually won the lawsuit in 2015, by the time he regained ownership the websites needed to be completely overhauled, and an investment in a redesign was unsuccessful.
Brewer described the lawsuit as an “extraordinary circumstance” that made it especially difficult to carry on.
He also, however, pointed to a downturn in the outdoor industry as a whole and a consumer preference for online buying that has affected local and national retail companies alike. Eastern Mountain Sports filed for bankruptcy last spring and closed Vermont stores earlier this year, for example.
Brewer said he is grateful for the loyal support of the Montpelier community, Onion River customers and his staff.
Montpelier and central Vermont are a “special place to be in business,” Brewer said, because of the community that has grown around the store. “I’ve often referred to myself as the current caretaker of ORS, rather than the owner,” he said.
Brewer said he will liquidate the remaining merchandise and fixtures at the two stores and retain ownership of the Langdon Street properties.
