From humble beginnings in the two-car garage of a Longmont home in 2015, friends Matt Burditt and Ryan Kazee have seen their ski and sport shop take great strides.
Angles Sports already had grown enough to move into a brick and mortar office location in 2017 at 24 Ninth Ave. But the friends have always dreamed of operating their business from Main Street. This month, that dream came true.
On Nov. 2, Angles Sports opened at 463 Main St., formerly home to Roster Technologies. The move roughly doubled the business’ size from 2,500 square feet to about 5,000 square feet, giving Angles Sports a chance to further grow.
“I think all of us are like ‘Pinch me, is this even real?’” Burditt said. “Ryan and I have been trying to get down here (to Main Street) ever since we opened.”
Kazee echoed this.
“It’s really rewarding seeing our original customers out of the garage coming with us,” Kazee said. “This was our vision from the get-go, to fill the niche and be downtown and have this atmosphere and presence. It’s taken a lot of hard work from Matt and our current employees.”
Stepping inside Angles Sports on Tuesday, customers browsed an array of colorful skis and snowboards. The shop offers sales and rentals of new and used skis and snowboards. Customers can also find boots, bindings, alpine touring gear, fly fishing gear, including more than 500 varieties of flies, kayaks and paddle boards, as well as outdoor apparel such as hats, jackets and gloves .
A full service tune-up shop is available and can help customers prepare skis and snowboards for the season. The shop also has classes, including avalanche safety classes and backcountry classes. The business also offers guided fly fishing trips, primarily in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Before Angles Sports, Burditt used to run Boomerang Sports Exchange in Steamboat Springs. He opened that shop in the summer of 2007 and sold it in 2012, before moving to Longmont. Burditt said he thought of Longmont as a better place to raise his four children, and it gave him the chance to be closer to extended family.
Burditt and Kazee have been friends for more than 20 years and like skiing and snowboarding together from Winter Park to Copper Mountain to Eldora. They first turned their love for outdoor sports into a side business in 2015.
At the time, they began operating out of Burditt’s garage at his home near Ninth Avenue and Sunset Street. They offered tune-up services for skis and snowboards and reached customers largely through word of mouth.
Business eventually grew. Customers started asking for Burditt and Kazee’s help in sourcing outdoor equipment, such as ski boots, skis and snowboards.
“We had so much interest that we started putting up racks in the garage to take care of people that needed a new boot or they needed a new pair of skis,” Burditt said.
The business in 2017 moved into a roughly 2,500-square-foot brick-and-mortar location at 24 Ninth Ave. They hired their first official employees: one full-time and two part-time. From 2017 to 2021, Burditt said, Angles Sports has seen 40% to 60% growth in sales. Increased interest in outdoor sports helped the business to continue to grow, even with the coronavirus pandemic.
The ski and sports shop today has seven full-time employees and about six part-time employees. Burditt said the new location has given the business the chance to “stretch our legs a bit” and offer even more to customers.
“Our focus (before) was the technical side, now we can offer everything you might need in addition to guided services,” Burditt said.
The business this summer received its outfitters license, allowing Angles the chance to offer guided fly-fishing tours around Colorado and Wyoming.
Having more space allowed the store to offer soft goods, such as outdoor apparel, to the lineup. Burditt said a lounge space at the new location opens the door for Angles Sports to host classes.
Kazee said he looks forward to seeing the foot traffic.
“It’s exactly where we want to be moving toward,” Kazee said, “but still not get away from where we started from.”
Angles Sports
Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Location:
Learn more about the business online at: anglessports.com
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