Boot retailer Freebird could sell for $500K to Pro’s Closet buyer

Pending a judge’s approval, the Denver boot seller Freebird will soon be sold for $500,000.

The sale would cap off a fast and acute fall for the retailer of handmade boots from 20 stores and a headquarters in Cherry Creek this spring to just two locations, a court-ordered receivership, a mountain of debt at least $21 million high and a departure from Denver.

“Given the company’s precarious financial condition as well as its inability to secure or replenish inventory, the value of (Freebird’s) intellectual property is rapidly eroding and absent a very prompt disposition could likely have little to no value,” its receiver wrote June 30.

Ampleo Turnaround and Restructuring is asking Denver District Judge Jill Dorancy to quickly approve the half-million-dollar sale, which is supported by Freebird’s lender, KeyBank. Freebird CEO Mike Murphy declined to discuss the sale with BusinessDen.

The buyer is Yasser Elshair of Arizona’s Elshair Cos., a private equity firm specializing in e-commerce. It also owns OliveOil.com, FragrantJewels.com and Jane.com. Last year, Elshair bought The Pro’s Closet, a local retailer of pre-owned bicycles.

“Following court approval, we look forward to expanding our portfolio in Denver with the addition of Freebird,” Elshair wrote in a statement to BusinessDen last week. “Our plan includes reopening select Freebird retail locations nationwide, including in the Denver area.”

Elshair will pay a $100,000 deposit and then $400,000 at closing, which is scheduled for Sept. 1. Elshair can keep Freebird’s employees and assume its retail leases in Nashville, Tenn., and Charleston, S.C., along with a warehouse in Georgia, but is not required to keep workers or locations. Freebird, which recently had four Colorado stores, now has none.

— Justin Wingerter, BusinessDen