A cellular-telephone retailer's bankruptcy has cost jobs in Santa Fe and elsewhere in New Mexico.

Alert Cellular LLC, founded in 1995, filed for Chapter 11 protection July 3, 2007, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Just over two years later, the company's problems reached the local level.

On Friday morning, employees of the Alert Cellular kiosk in the Santa Fe Place mall showed up for work expecting to kick off a good sales weekend. Instead they were notified that the company had gone under and the five employees there had two days to pack up and clear the store.

Joe Torres, 21-year-old manager of the kiosk, said the news was an absolute shock. He estimates that at least 100 people in the region have lost their jobs as a result of the closing of Alert, which was an authorized dealer for Verizon service.

According to Kathy Gibbons, Alert Cellular's regional manager for Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Taos and Alamogordo, the company's New Mexico market had eight stores, all of which have been closed. She said that the company's shutdown also caught her by surprise.

"We were doing really well," she said. "In retrospect, I can see the signs, but I didn't see them."

The company had over 130 stores in 11 states and employed more than 700 people.

"Nobody saw it coming," Torres said. "We thought we were doing so good. I had been told to hire new employees. Their first day on the job was the day the company went down."

The Santa Fe Place operation, opened in 2005, twice had been rated No. 1 in New Mexico by Alert Cellular for its success in sales, he said.

Torres, who had been with Alert Cellular for nearly four months, has been searching for jobs since Friday and is worried about how he will be able to support his family and pay bills. His concerns are heightened by worries that he and the other employees might not get their last paychecks.

"I have my kids, my phone bill, my house. It's been a nightmare," he said. "I haven't been able to sleep. My (automobile) dealership says they're going to take my truck. It's really scary."

Torres said he's going to go back to school for training in sales and marketing. In the meantime, he and his co-workers from the kiosk are getting together to try to help each other recover and fight for their last paychecks.

"One door closes and another door opens," he said Monday. "There's another door waiting for me. I just need to be strong."

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Contact Jessica Trumbull at 986-3050 or jtrumbull@sfnewmexican.com.