Warm winter works OK

for EIR Sports to roll out

Spring 2000 clothing line

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BOULDER – The streets of Boulder are buzzing this season, but not with the usual conversation surrounding skiing and mountain sports. This year folks are asking, “What happened to winter, did we miss it?”

While most everyone else across the states is experiencing the fourth season, Colorado residents, ski resort executives and seasonal retailers are bracing for a mild, unseasonable winter.

The folks at EIR Sports could not have picked a better time to introduce their new Spring 2000 clothing line, though business has not been severely effected by the warm weather.

Slated to debut at the turn of the new millennium, the clothing line will feature golf wear, dresses, wraps and accessories for the resortgoer who only brought their heavy jackets.

“The winter sports lines were a feast or famine,´ said Weatherly Stroh, assistant director at EIR Sports. “We’re busy during fall and dead during the summer. This new line is a big complement to the ski line.”

Traditionally, the small Boulder wholesaler sold sweaters, jackets and skiwear to mountain resorts across the country. This marks the first time the company will dabble in the fashions of spring and summer.

“Our focus and most business come from ski resorts, but we’re trying to do more mainstream fashions,” Stroh said.

EIR Sports sells mainly to retailers close to town in Vail, Aspen and Telluride, Stroh said.

With 10 sales representatives scattered on the East and West Coasts and Canada, EIR is a nationwide clothing proprietor. The small company was started in Vail five years ago by Olympic skier Bobby Burns. Named after his girlfriend at the time, the company was sold three years ago to Rhonda Swenson, who moved the headquarters to Boulder.

Swenson expanded the company’s market coast to coast and increased sales upwards of a million dollars, nearly doubling profits from last year. Stroh said that EIR still considers their winter clothes “the money makers” and insists the expectations are low for the first spring line.

“I think we have small expectations,” Stroh said. “We expect sales in the $100,000 range, and in the fall we expect to double our sales again. We’re not relying solely relying on the spring line.”

Sales for the more popular winter fashions have not dropped because of the prolonged warmth in the mountain resorts of Colorado.

“Surprisingly, we have not had any cancellations,” Stroh said. “We thought the warm weather would effect us more.”

The new spring clothes have a wholesale price of $89 to $115 and will feature three colors for each piece of apparel, Stroh said.

The company hopes to introduce a children’s clothing line in the next year and will make appearances at the Ski Industry Association trade shows in Las Vegas.