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  Home Page » News » Corral West To Shutter Durango Store

Corral West to shutter Durango store

by Dale Rodebaugh
Herald Staff Writer The slack economy has taken down another retail outlet at the Durango Mall, the second in two months.

Corral West Ranchwear, which opened its doors five years ago last month, was liquidating merchandise at 10 percent to 40 percent discounts Monday. The store, at the western edge of the mall parking lot, was doing a brisk business.

"It's the economy," said Manager Lacy Young. "We're going day by day, so we'll be here until we run out."

The timing of the liquidation was perfect. The National Bureau of Economic Research on Monday made it official, announcing that the nation has been in recession since December 2007. The bureau is the body that officially designates economic cycles.

Young, who went to work for Corral West right out of high school in 2003, said she learned last week from the corporate office in Cheyenne, Wyo., that her store would be closing.

She has been the Corral West manager for three years.

Last month, the Linens-N-Things outlet at the Durango Mall began to liquidate its merchandise. The firm filed for bankruptcy in May.

BTWW Retail, the parent company of Cheyenne-based Corral West, filed for bankruptcy protection in early November in Texas. A month earlier, Boot Barn Holding Corp. bought 22 BTWW stores in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and California. According to The Associated Press, Corral West CEO Larry Hager said at the time that weak sales were the reason the stores were sold.

No one was available for comment by telephone Monday at the Cheyenne headquarters.

"I have no one to put you through to," a receptionist said.

Lexa Pitcher, manager of the Durango Mall, was not available for comment Monday.

BTWW holdings included more than 100 stores nationwide under the names Corral West, Boot Town, Western Warehouse, Sergeant's Western World and Workwear Depot.

In November 2003, Corral West opened in the former home of Horny's Dance Hall & Saloon, which had been shuttered for six years. The Corral West outlet, the 94th in the chain at the time, offers a full line of jeans, hats, boots, shirts and work gear. The chain began in 1951 as Red Lodge Trading Post in Red Lodge, Mont.

daler@durangoherald.com