Meet Pete Meltzer |

We had the good fortune of connecting with Pete Meltzer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Pete, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I had worked for other people in outdoor clothing stores in Breckenridge for nearly 20 years, so I had a lot of experience. My wife, Jenny, is extremely creative and has amazing style and taste. Circumstances in our lives and my work environment got us thinking about our own shop. After a lot of encouragement from Jenny, we made the choice to leave my job and open the Mountain Goat Clothing Company. We had also dreamed of working together since we met and this was our way to do that. We knew the industry, the unique market in Breckenridge, and felt we had what it takes to run a successful business in town, where we could make a better living, in a less stressful and less intense environment and set ourselves and our daughter up for the future.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Mountain Goat Clothing Company is an outdoor lifestyle clothing store. Our inventory always features fun, quality, casual styles for women and men driven by our love of the outdoors and the casual lifestyle of mountain living. In Breckenridge, lots of stores are owned by the ski area and lots of stores sell ski, riding, or hiking gear. We sell only stylish casual clothes and outerwear, the things people wear every day. This is addressing a unique niche in Breckenridge for both men and women. Over our 10 years in business, we have evolved every year to land at this point. Heavier duty Outerwear gear and ski stuff were often overlooked and clogged up our sale area, we are very proud of the shop’s evolution over the time we’ve been open. We are in our 11th year, and except for the 1st 2 months after we opened, we have by choice, had no staff. Just the 2 of us run the store open to close every day. We do this and are able to enjoy an exceptionally high quality of life in the amazing environment we have lived in for over 50 years combined. We enjoy the outdoors almost every day while running a successful shop and raising our daughter. It was scary initially opening the shop, but it has proved to be the greatest work-related decision we have ever made. We love working together, and do it in the lowest-stress environment both of us have ever worked in. Being in our shop every day and running it by ourselves allows us to be a very flexible operation and that facilitates good decision-making in all areas of our business.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We love Breckenridge and Summit County for so many reasons. 1st and foremost we would love to take any visitors into the outdoors to experience some of our favorite activities. Skiing, XC Skiing, Mountain Biking, Paddle Boarding etc. So many great trails!! Skiing at Breckenridge as it is our hometown mountain and maybe a day trip to Vail or Beaver Creek. We would do the short walk to see the Troll Isak Heartstone, maybe even ice skate while we are near the ice rinks. Coffee and baked treats from The Crown, Clints or the French Bakery and breakfast burritos and sandwiches from Semplice. Lunch sandwiches from the Cheese Shop or Downstairs Deli. Casual dinners at Eric’s Fatty’s and Motherloaded Tavern, nicer dinners at The Hearthstone, Radicato and South Ridge Seafood. Tacos from Sancho or The Tap House!! We do not drink much, but Happy Hour on the RMU deck on a sunny afternoon is something lots of people enjoy!!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We would dedicate our Shoutout to my parents and Grandfather and Jenny’s mother and sister. All deserve credit for where we are at this point in our lives