The Limeade boutique in Cherry Creek North will close in September, becoming the fifth independent, woman-owned business to leave the tony shopping district since May.
The store, best-known for carrying lines by designer Lilly Pulitzer, has struggled with slow traffic and “inconsistent sales” since the city eliminated free parking in the district, said Paige O’Brien, who opened the store at 2817 E. Third Avenue 4 1/2 years ago.
“Since (paid) parking went into effect, store visits are down. We just don’t have the traffic we used to,” she said.
National retailers have also encroached, adding a new level of competition, she said.
O’Brien’s decision to shutter the store when her lease is up follows similar moves by nearby retailers. Cook’s Mart owner Merrillyn Shroads closed her popular cookware store in May. Children’s clothing store B.Bear Express and sportswear retailer Sporting Woman will close next month.
The Tattered Cover, a neighborhood anchor, relocated to East Colfax Avenue and Elizabeth Street after owner Joyce Meskis was unable to reach a new lease deal with building owner Donald Sturm. Sturm is seeking a new tenant.
While the owners of the departing businesses have given different reasons for their decisions, most agreed that the neighborhood is in transition.
“Cherry Creek is changing,” said Jan Coursey, owner of B.Bear. “All these wonderful stores are leaving. A lot of chains are coming in.”
Coursey’s store was in the same building as Cook’s Mart. She said she opted to shut her business after the building was purchased by Chicago-based Next Realty LLC. Rumors have circulated that the developer plans to build condos on the building’s parking lot and could be considering a mixed-use project for the entire site. A Next Realty official did not respond to e-mail questions Monday.
Sporting Woman owner Lisa Voorhees closed her store for personal reasons, she said, but the changes in the neighborhood are not lost on her.
“It’s like this perfect storm,” Voorhees said of the retailers pulling up stakes.
The Cherry Creek Business Improvement District is concerned that independent, woman-owned businesses are the ones departing, said Christina Brickley, marketing director for the district. The district remains nearly 80 percent independent, she said.
Limeade’s departure is particularly troub ling because O’Brien is citing a lack of business, Brickley said. The BID is assembling a roundtable with eight longtime retailers to determine how it can address tenants’ concerns and re-energize the district.
The BID cannot keep out national retailers, because it does not have control over landlords, Brickley said. Properties in Cherry Creek are controlled by 70 individual landlords.
Shoppers Gillette Hansen and Cille Wil liams said they prefer independent retailers but worry that those companies will be driven out by big companies that can undercut the independents’ prices.
The women, who were shopping at Limeade on Monday, also said the neighborhood’s switch to paid parking has likely hurt.
“You always have to find the kiosk and look for quarters” or your debit card, Han sen said. The process “is not that friendly.”
The city launched a paid parking system in Cherry Creek in September 2004 with the aim of turning over parking spaces more quickly. Previously, parking was hard to come by because employees parked on the street, tying up spots for hours.
In 2005, the first full year of paid parking, the district’s sales-tax revenues increased 6 percent, Brickley said, and $1 million in parking fees was generated. Through May of this year, the city has collected $395,000 from Cherry Creek parking fees, according to Patty Weiss, a spokeswoman for the Denver Department of Public Works.
Some Cherry Creek North business owners said they’re not worried and attributed the latest round of closings to change.
“It’s just a normal retail function of leases coming due,” said Howard Kramer, manager of the Five Herds Trading Co.
The store sells gourmet meals made from naturally raised bison and livestock. It opened in March a few doors down from Cook’s Mart and B.Bear and has what Kra mer described as “an extended lease.”
Harriet Gibson, owner of Harriet’s boutique, said she’s confident that the soon-to- be vacant stores will be filled quickly. She spent 18 months searching for the right space for her store, which opened in January.
“Every neighborhood has to reinvent itself. It goes in cycles,” Gibson said.
Staff writer Kristi Arellano can be reached at 303-820-1902 or karellano@denverpost.com.
