ROARING FORK BROADCASTING COMPANY
An Aspen-based company that has spent more than two decades building a brand based on outdoor recreational pursuits will stay in business while it reorganizes its debts through bankruptcy protection.
High Society Freeride Co., which operates from the Aspen Airport Business Center, declared Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Denver.
The High Society brand has become seemingly synonymous with SUPs in the Aspen area. The company distributes snowboards, skis and inflatable stand-up paddleboards, as well as accessories and clothing.
“Founded in 2003 and headquartered in the Roaring Fork Valley, High Society has faced unprecedented challenges in the post-COVID era, marked by fluctuations in demand and evolving financial landscapes,” said a company news release issued Wednesday. “This filing is a proactive step to address a combination of severe external pressures including aggressive below-cost pricing by international competitors, significant disruptions from a vendor dispute over quality standards, and a tightening credit environment that resulted in critical financing falling through.”
Citing High Society’s $400,000 in assets against nearly $4.4 million in total liabilities, the June 20 bankruptcy petition has been followed up by a series of filings, including a sworn statement from Paul Menter, who became the company’s CEO and managing member on Feb. 1 after serving as its chief financial officer from Jan. 1, 2020, to Jan. 31.
Menter’s statement noted a significant boost in business for High Society in 2020 “when individuals looking to enjoy leisure activities began to explore more outdoor activities due to the restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The surge was tempered in 2022, Menter’s statement said, when High Society “began to see a downturn in its business operations as the market shifted based on the increase in sales from large online retailers. These changes in market conditions and other external factors contributed to High Society Freeride experiencing significant losses in 2022 and 2023 exceeding $3.3 million.”
Contacted Wednesday, Menter said High Society enjoyed the wave of popularity when SUPs were made to be inflatable. The downside: a market that would be flooded with competitors after the COVID-19 global pandemic hit in March 2020.
“The advent of inflatable SUPs as a really attractive new product in the market along with COVID happening and everybody wanting to find a way to get outside with social distancing, that kinda blew that market up,” Menter said.
High Society’s release noted challenges posed to the outdoor industry in the wake of the pandemic and “as the world began to stabilize, the industry experienced a sudden and significant drop in demand. Coupled with supply chain disruptions and overstocked inventories and the transition from an era of cheap money to today's higher interest rates, many companies find themselves navigating a radically transformed economic landscape.”
Menter, who wrote an opinion column for the Aspen Daily News for 12 years until mid-2023, acknowledged the challenges ahead but said the company will keep going while it restructures its debts.
In a statement, High Society President Jason Flynn said, “Operating a successful retail business in Aspen has always presented its unique challenges. High Society has thrived for over two decades through every economic climate. This reorganization represents not just our commitment to overcoming current challenges but also to emerging as a more resilient and diversified company.”
It hasn’t been just marketplace conditions that have put High Society in its current financial spot, based on Menter’s declaration in the bankruptcy case.
One lender High Society relied on balked on an agreement in 2023 to provide the company $300,000 in funding so it could make product orders, forcing the company to “secure significantly more expensive replacement funding in order to meet its factory obligations.”
That set off a domino effect of sorts with High Society “to the point where continuing to service the debts and also meet its regular obligations under the normal course of business became impossible. As a result, the Debtor (High Society) filed its voluntary petition for relief pursuant to Chapter 11, Subchapter V to restructure its debt and continue to operate as a going concern,” Menter’s statement said.
Menter said High Society Freeride will have to diversify its products and introduce new ones.
“We will continue to be a local business,” he said, adding, “We’ve been successful since 2003.”
The company had four people working at its AABC store but that number is now two, said Menter, who is not included in the figure.
High Society Freeride’s owners comprise individuals holding varying percentages of interest in the company. Bankruptcy lawyer Keri Riley of Denver firm Kutner Brinen Dickey Riley PC represents High Society in the proceedings.
High Society Freeride’s creditors are scheduled to meet July 31 in Denver, according to bankruptcy filings.
High Society’s news release closed with a call to action of sorts.
“As the industry continues to evolve, High Society Freeride Company sees this reorganization as an opportunity to spotlight the broader challenges and transformations facing the outdoor recreational market. The company invites industry observers, stakeholders, and the media to consider the implications of these changes and discuss the future of outdoor recreation in contexts like Aspen and Colorado, where many local economies are deeply interconnected with the health of the outdoor industry.”
The SUP industry in particular is seeing significant growth but it also is dominated by the big players such as Tower and Serenity, according to “Stand Up Paddleboard Market: Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2024-2031.”
“The export market for these U.S. brands also is growing steadily in Europe and Asia Pacific Regions,” said the study, which was issued by Coherent Market Insights Reports.
The global SUP market, of which North American has an estimated 36.6% share, has an estimated value of $1.7 billion and is forecast to grow to $3.7 billion by 2031, the report said. Inflatable SUPs are estimated to make up 66.4% of the global market this year, according to the report.