Around noon on Tuesday, Olivier Goumaswalked to the front door of 123Mountain—theoutdoor shop he owns in Frisco, Colorado,which ϳԹwrote about in February—to find it guarded by the Summit County Sheriff’s Department. Inside, a crew of eight were gathering the store’s inventory, including brand-new Leki ski poles and Camelbak water bottles, and hauling it out to a Budget rental truck. Goumas was allowed in briefly to identify his personal property.
The goods will be auctioned off to pay 123Mountain’sdebt of more than $30,000 to Greg Gantzer, who has won two judgments in Summit County, Ohio, related to website work he did that Goumasnever paid for. Gantzer estimates that the gear they took would sell for $250,000 at retail value.During thecourt-orderedseizure,hespotted Goumas outside in a black knit cap and puffy jacket. “We saw each other, but exchanged no words,” Gantzer says.“I feel like some kind of justice was served, and it will prevent him from injuring other people.”Goumas did not respond to repeated calls and emails for comment.
As ϳԹ previously reported, Goumas—who has operated astring of ski and gear retailers in France and the U.S.over the last decade—has angered consumers, gear manufacturers, and even his own employees by not deliveringgear or paying for products and services rendered. Goumashas never been charged with a crime, but his luck seems to have run out. Even before the seizure, he was being evicted from the Frisco store.
While Gantzer had a court on his side, another vendor recentlytook the law into his own hands.Last fall, Bradford Peterson, the Denver-based co-founder of , sent Goumas 15 pairs of hand-stitched gloves with elaborate beadwork. He was disturbed to find 123Mountain listing Astis’s entire glove line online at prices $20 below its competitors. When Peterson complained to Goumas about what he believed to be a deceptive practice to lure customers, Goumas was unapologetic. “I don’t recall you have bought my website?” Goumas wrote in an email to Peterson. After talking to friends in the industry, Peterson worried he would never be paid for the gloves he already sent, which were worth more than $2,000 at retail prices.One afternoon before Christmas, he went to the Frisco storeto take back his mittens. “You haven’t paid for them, and I’m taking them,” he told Goumas. The two wrestled in the middle of the store and Peterson eventually returnedto his car with 12 of the 15 mittens.
While the recent seizure represents ablow to 123Mountain, Goumas hadalready begun rebranding himself. According to Nancy Clark, a partner at the Unleaded Group, a web design firm in Denver, he has been preparing to launch a new site, Summitwearhouse.com. A Frisco-based eBay user “summitwearhouse” has sold over 200 outdoor-related items during the last 12 months and has mostly stellar reviews on the auction site.
One reviewer, however, questioned whether their Dynafit ski bindings were really unopened and in the original packaging as promised. “Shifty seller,” they wrote. “Would not do business again.” Another warned: “Unreasonable. No communication. Beware of this seller.”