Smack in the middle of the Land of Big Boxes something quite extraordinary dwells:
Retail cuteness.
Tucked a stone’s throw from the mind-numbing congestion of South Santa Fe Drive, there is actual quaintness in the growing number of upscale shops, art galleries, funky boutiques and restaurants housed in the century-old storefronts of Historic Downtown Littleton.
No, that’s not an oxymoron. Though Littleton ZIP codes span parts of three counties, the city indeed has a downtown. Five blocks of it, plucked from another era and anchored, of course, by Main Street.
Think Mayberry meets Cherry Creek North.
“There are thousands of people who drive right by here every day and don’t even know we’re here. We are like a best-kept secret,” says Bart Cooper, who, along with his wife, Peggy, own Details, a boutique of bath and beauty products as well as women’s clothing.
Cooper moved from Denver to the ‘burbs “kicking and screaming” when he married three years ago.
He once counted himself among the 50,000 who drive Santa Fe every day, most without ever turning on the blinker. Then, after being laid off from his corporate gig as a medical-equipment salesman, the middle-aged newlywed discovered downtown Littleton, just north of Arapahoe Community College.
By coincidence or fate, Details was for sale. He and his wife jumped, never looking back.
Merchants like Cooper say their little enclave is now on the cusp of breaking out of hidden-gem designation.
Old meets new
Ruth Graham, president of Historic Downtown Littleton Merchants Association, says when she opened Ancient Art Healing Center, an acupuncture and chiropractic clinic, eight years ago there were about a dozen members of the merchants association. Today there are 93.
There is little doubt downtown Littleton’s demographics are changing. An urbane clientele with plenty of disposable income is being wooed.
There’s a chocolate shop as well as a new wine store. A few doors down, a gourmet spice store also opened recently. An art gallery has relocated from Denver, and Tres Jolie, a new tea and champagne salon, serves breakfast, lunch and afternoon high tea.
“I like the fact that they’re keeping the old look but bringing in the upscale new,” says Heather Fleck, who was strolling to lunch with her mother one sunny day. She says she has been coming to downtown Littleton for more than a decade and senses change in the air.
Karen Arckey, who lives in the area, browses Seasons, a home accessories store, on her day off. She likes the hometown feel of independently owned businesses. Even though sometimes the smaller shops are more expensive, she tries to avoid mall shopping on principle.
“I live right between Southwest Plaza and Park Meadows,” she says, “(Here) I don’t feel like I’m in the suburbs.
Retail unchained
Littleton’s downtown is devoid of any chain-owned stores or restaurants. A true rarity these Starbucks-on-every-corner days.
“We’re trying to keep out anything corporate,” says Christopher McGraw, co-owner of McKenners Pizza Bar, which opened in January.
He knows firsthand about the determination to maintain a certain character in the area. His restaurant occupies the site of a former Littleton landmark, Valore Hardware. When McGraw first began renovations, there were plenty of narrowed eyes from neighbors.
“People looked at us like we were coming in from Home Depot to ruin everything,” he jokes. Now his place is packed.
Of course, there is some danger that if an area becomes too hot, it will lose the charm and uniqueness that distinguished it in the first place.
It is also a financial struggle for independent shops to compete with the big chains and stay in business.
“I worry sometimes when I come down here and it is empty,” says Arckey, “I hate to see a business go out.”
Graham says merchants walk a fine line between keeping a place profitable and losing its core clientele.
“It’s a worry that all small businesses have,” agrees Helen Rice, co-owner of Willow: An Artisan’s Market, a tiny shop just off Main Street that specializes in handcrafted art. “But I feel like I have something really unique to offer. As long as I stay true to my vision for my store I should be able to compete.”
