#Breckenridge, Colorado.
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| Courtesy of Lone Star Sports |
After 37 years of providing the Breckenridge community with ski and snowboard rentals and repairs, the Abernathy family is closing their ski shop location.
As of Dec. 26, 2013, Christy Sports has replaced the Lone Star Sports ski and snowboard space in Breckenridge. Christy Sports, a company with more than 50 years of experience in specialty ski and snowboard business, will now operate out of the space at 110 S. Park Ave.
Brian Sullivan, Christy Sports Regional Manager of Summit County, said for this season at least, the store will still have the same feel.
“It’s such an iconic Breckenridge store,” he said. “We might think about keeping the old name in there somehow. We have very similar ideals about how to treat customers.”
Greg Abernathy opened Lone Star Sports in 1976 and earned a reputation for excellent customer service over the years. After a long history in the Breckenridge community, Greg and Kim Abernathy said in a prepared statement they were ready to move on.
“We feel privileged to have served the community for so long, but now it is time to take the steps toward retirement,” Greg said. “However, I am happy that Christy Sports, a local ski shop will run out of our old space.”
Lone Star has become a fixture within the ski and snowboard community in Breckenridge, and Christy Sports will continue that legacy into the future, Sullivan said. Countless ski instructors, patrollers and other locals shared stories in Lone Star while getting equipment tunes, renting for friends or family and purchasing new gear.
“Christy Sports is singularly well equipped to continue developing that sense of community because we started as a local shop and have carried those experiences into every location we operate,” said Patrick O’Winter, Christy Sports owner, in a prepared statement. “It’s who we are and it is what sets us apart from other ski shops.”
Randy England, spokesperson for Christy Sports, said not many changes will happen as the store transitions — he just wants to make it through the holiday season first.
“With Lone Star out of business so to speak, the employees lost their jobs one day and we turned around and rehired them the next, as Christy Sports employees,” he said. “We wanted to make sure they still had a job this winter, so we grabbed the guys back up.”
There are currently six Christy Sports locations in Breckenridge and Sullivan said big crowds and plenty of renters eased any worry about opening another.
“We’re not concerned,” he said. “We have one more door to direct people to. The more doors we can have to accommodate those guys the better. It’s a great location with parking, which is tough in Breckenridge.”
Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.
