Stephanie Morris Nissan mysteriously closed last week, leaving speculation as to what happened to the west Durango car dealership.

Former sales employee Jay Jensen said the employees were told on Oct. 2 that the dealership was no longer in business and that they were out of jobs.

Jensen said employees were not told a reason why the dealership was closing, but he speculates the dealership did not have the adequate funds to keep operating.

“I would imagine they owed Nissan corporation money,” Jensen said.

The business has signs in the windows telling customers that the dealership is temporarily closed. However, its Google business profile indicates the dealership is closed permanently.

“They tried to mitigate the circumstances,” Jensen said.

The dealership had a total of 22 employees, according to Jensen.

Jensen reiterated what he had heard from other employees are mostly rumors.

"We are aware of the closing of the store in Durango. Our top priority is the satisfaction of our customers. Nissan dealerships are independently owned and operated and any customer having business or issues with Nissan of Durango will need to contact the dealership directly,“ said Vice President Communications of North America Brian Brockman in an email Tuesday.

Calls to the dealership’s main phone number seeking comment were not returned on Monday.

tbrown@durangoherald.com

This story will be updated when more information becomes available.