Residents said it felt like a marital dispute.

“This is not just a development. It is a defining investment into the future identity and livability of our city,” said Sandy Anderson, who spoke in the meeting’s public comment portion. “Delaying or jeopardizing this project over timing would be a mistake. As for the due diligence, the point-by-point disagreements, may I suggest relationship counseling?”

The proposed $300 million Broomfield Town Square project would bring a 12-foot-deep swimmable and fishable lake surrounded by waterfront retail and apartment complexes to a field adjacent to City Hall. A long-closed Safeway building would be connected to the site and refashioned into a market hall.

Disagreements over the permitting process have led the developers to seek an 18-month extension of the project����ap timeline, giving them until March 2028 to submit for certain construction permits.

“I like this project. I have been excited about this project for a very long time. I am the last person looking for a reason this won’t work,” said Broomfield Councilwoman Julie Twiss. “You’re making it hard. There are significant issues with this project and they are not being addressed.”

The council will vote May 12 on whether to grant the extension.

“The community still strongly supports this project and the outpouring of support has been corroborating that point,” said Tim Fredregill, one of the project����ap developers.

Fredregill, of Outpost Partners, joined forces with Denver-based City Street Investors in 2019 to build the development. The firms have until Sept. 12 to pull a building permit for the project or its site development plan could be revoked by city council, putting the entire deal in jeopardy.

Outpost and City Street are preparing to undertake $30 million in infrastructure work, which includes turning the existing pond into a lake and building restrooms and a boathouse that will include a concession stand. The firms thought the approval for that would count as a building permit. But Broomfield has determined it doesn’t count.

“I believe there is a chance that a building permit was not deciphered as a building permit in an effort to bring us back to the table for a renegotiation of terms we already agreed to,” Fredregill said.

Anna Bertanzetti, Broomfield’s deputy city and county manager, said the city “acknowledges the scale” of the $30 million infrastructure work.

“However, the relevant question is not the dollar figure, it����ap whether the project has advanced to the point that demonstrates readiness to move forward with the primary development,” she said.

The five-hour hearing on the development began with Bertanzetti and city staff presenting due diligence findings. It called into question the financial feasibility of the project, including the chance that there may not be enough bond monies to finance infrastructure development and the estimated $1 million in revenue the boathouse is expected to generate.

“For a small, seasonal, amenity-oriented structure, this level of performance would not reasonably be expected and raises questions about whether portions of the project����ap overall financing capacity may be materially overstated,” reads the staff report.

City Street Investors founder Joe Vostrejs was taken aback by the boathouse questioning.

“I have an ice cream shop that does $3,000 a square foot,” he said.

The council also questioned why the extension request seemed, from their perspective, to have popped up out of nowhere.

“What have you been up to? What have you been doing? … We’ve seen entire redevelopments at our Flatirons Mall go up way more quickly than this,” Councilwoman Heidi Henkel said.

At the most recent public meeting between the two sides last September, the developers said they were working through construction documents and didn’t need anything from the city.

“You said, ‘No, there’s nothing we’re waiting on from the city.’ So, I don’t understand why we are here today with you asking for an extension. I am not satisfied with what we’ve heard,” said Councilwoman Jean Lim.

Other council members expressed a desire that the former grocery store be redeveloped first.

“The Safeway building, this one is just one of the things that����ap been frustrating over the years,” said Councilwoman Laurie Anderson.

The development team countered that their timeline was disrupted by a sudden change in what Broomfield would expect as a building permit. The project����ap complexity is much deeper than that of any nearby redevelopment, Fredregill added.

The Safeway building, they said, needs to be delivered with the rest of the project to be successful.

“I can’t have the Safeway building leading to a mudhole,” Vostrejs told BusinessDen earlier this month. “It����ap like the heart and lungs. You got to have both if you’re going to live.”

Though the back-and-forth between council, city staff and developers took up much of the hearing, over a dozen citizens chimed in. Nearly all were in favor of the project and extension.

“I’m here tonight so we can recommit our vows to each other,” said resident Chris Guidera. “We as a community want this and I think we’ve made that clear.”

Read more from our partner, .

, which generally would prohibit the use of that technology to set individualized prices or wages, is part of a growing national focus on companies’ use of “surveillance pricing.” Companies, particularly tech firms, have gathered enormous amounts of personal data on American consumers, including down to the individual level.

Supporters of such legislation say that trend has opened the door for retailers, pharmacies, airlines and other industries to plug that data into algorithms and determine how much one person is willing to pay — and then adjust the price based on factors like potential customers’ location, race, income or level of desperation.

They want lawmakers to rein in the practice, amid broader concerns about data privacy and the ever-increasing cost of living.

“Corporations have long sought to set prices based on what consumers are willing to pay for a product,” said Lee Hepner, an antitrust lawyer with the American Economic Liberties Project, which supports surveillance-pricing regulation. “The effect of surveillance pricing makes that price-setting process much more efficient to exploit customers’ personal data, to predict how much an individual consumer is willing to pay.

“And it is ultimately a price-maximizing force, because that willingness to pay (translates to providing) the highest price, or the pain point price, for each individual consumer in the market.”

HB-1210, which is sponsored by Democratic lawmakers, already passed the state House on a 39-24 vote in late March. On Tuesday, it cleared its first committee hearing in the Senate. It now needs approval by the full Senate before it can move to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk.

The technology is still emerging, and its uses vary. A TV station in Minnesota , vacuums and car seats were more expensive on Target’s app when a reporter was standing closer to the store than when they were farther away. Nearly 14 years ago, the Wall Street Journal higher prices for hotel bookings. By examining zip code-level data, ProPublica  were costlier in areas with more Asian residents.

Another study from last year, in which shoppers , found that prices shifted, from customer to customer, at the same Safeway or Target locations for products like eggs, cereal and peanut butter, according to the New York Times in a story last year.

And several federal lawmakers last year after its president told investors that the airline wanted to increase the use of artificial intelligence technology to influence prices. that it had never used nor plans to use a “fare product … that targets customers with individualized offers based on personal information or otherwise.”

The system can work in the other direction, too, with the technology used to set wages based on workers’ individual data.

More Perfect Union, a left-leaning news outlet, for Lyft and Uber to sit in a room and compare the rates they were offered for the same rides. Those rates differed more often than not.

Business groups and companies argue that price surveillance allows them to adjust prices up and down depending on demand and need, and that it can help drive specialized discounts to consumers. In , the Federal Trade Commission wrote that the technology could be used for “tailored offers to customers.”

But, the report continued, it could also increase prices — or it could be used to offer fewer discounts to individuals who just got paid.

To regulate the practice, lawmakers in several states and in Congress have introduced legislation curbing price surveillance. Colorado’s bill would generally prohibit price surveillance, though the bill includes exemptions for government agencies and when prices shift based on factors like delivery time.

If passed, the bill would be the strongest legislation of its kind in the United States, Hepner said.

Colorado lawmakers weighed similar legislation last year but then shelved it. In both 2024 and 2025, Democrats another type of algorithm that’s used to set rents for apartments and other rental properties. That legislation passed in 2025, only to be vetoed by Polis.

The governor does not appear to have much more interest in a broader effort to curtail surveillance pricing. Polis, who has been skeptical of lawmakers’ past efforts to regulate tech companies, signaled his concerns with the new bill through a spokeswoman Tuesday night.

“Governor Polis is concerned with policies, including price fixing and restrictions on demand-informed pricing, that further interfere with the free functioning of markets,” spokeswoman Ally Sullivan said in a statement. “The governor will review the final legislation if it reaches his desk.”

A swath of business and technology groups oppose the bill. Representatives of those interests testified Tuesday that the legislation was too broad and burdensome.

The groups — including those representing Colorado businesses, national retailers and the tech industry — also repeatedly said that the bill would hamper their ability to offer discounts to customers on an individualized basis.

“Unfortunately, the results of this bill would mean fewer discounts, fewer offers and high costs for consumers,” said Andrew Wood, a regional representative for TechNet, a coalition of major technology companies. In a question that reflects opponents’ public criticism of the bill, the Chamber of Progress, another tech group, showing that 70% of Coloradans opposed the banning of loyalty programs.

Hepner argued that the bill would preserve longstanding discount practices, like publicly available coupons, loyalty programs, and senior or veteran discounts. His group , which found that 78% of likely Colorado voters would support a ban on “companies from using AI or automated systems to charge different prices to different people, or pay different wages to different workers, based on ‘surveillance data.’ ”

Sen. Mike Weissman, one of the Democrats sponsoring HB-1210, said during the hearing that attempts at regulating the practice have been “watered down” in other states.

“I would submit it’s been killed or watered down in rooms like this, by testimony like some of what we heard today — respectfully, not a lot of which was strictly accurate to the bill. We don’t have to be that room, we don’t have to be that legislature, we don’t have to follow suit. We can do something different.”

The bill is next set for the first of two full votes on the Senate floor. That vote has not yet been scheduled. The legislative session ends May 13.

“We’ve received over 600 complaints … from consumers who experienced a variety of engine issues after receiving gas last week,” Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Deputy Executive Director Cher Haavind said in a .

As of Wednesday, all the contaminated fuel had been recovered and returned to Sinclair, the distributor, Division of Oil and Public Safety spokesperson said in the news conference. The division is part of Colorado’s Department of Labor and Employment.

“At this point, all indications, including our own investigations, have suggested that all fuel in the marketplace that you can buy at gas stations meets specifications,” Hope said.

The Division of Oil and Public Safety confirmed 46 gas stations across metro Denver and the Front Range received the contaminated fuel, including stations in Denver, Breckenridge, Lakewood, Fort Collins, Littleton, Greenwood Village, Westminster, Henderson, Aurora, Greeley, Wellington, Superior, Lone Tree, Parker, Arvada, Firestone, Federal Heights, Castle Rock, Longmont, Conifer, Colorado Springs, Sheridan, Broomfield, Timnath, Arvada, Johnstown and Erie.

In a statement Tuesday night, Sinclair officials apologized for the inconvenience caused by the contaminated fuel.

“We continue to work with distributors and are committed to making this right for all affected,” company officials said.
“…A thorough review is underway, and we are taking appropriate steps to prevent this from happening again.”

State officials started getting complaints about bad gas on Thursday from stations at Costco, Murphy Express, King Soopers and others.

The contaminated fuel was loaded from the HF Sinclair terminal and sent to stations between 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7 and 6 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, state officials said.

By 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Sinclair had notified its distributors that there was a problem, started recalling the fuel and ordered affected stations to shut down sales, Hope said.

“Consumers would experience a variety of engine performance issues, from sputtering to stalling, and it would have presented itself pretty quickly upon filling up with the contaminated fuel,” Haavind said.

Where and how the fuel got contaminated remains under investigation, Hope said. That investigation could take two to three weeks.

Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety investigators received a list Tuesday night from Sinclair of 42 gas stations that pumped contaminated fuel.

Colorado gas stations that sold contaminated fuel:

• Costco Gasoline #676, 5175 Wadsworth Blvd, Arvada

• King Soopers Fuel Center #137, 14887 Candelas Pkwy, Arvada

• Stinker Store #333, 13700 E Quincy Ave, Aurora

• Costco Gasoline #439, 1405 S Havana St, Aurora

• King Soopers Fuel Center #107, 25751 E Smoky Hill Road, Aurora

• King Soopers Fuel Center #49, 2351 S Buckley Road, Aurora

• Farmers Korner Gas, 16115 Hwy 9, Breckenridge

• King Soopers Fuel Facility #718, 2395 W 136th Ave, Broomfield

• King Soopers #86 Fuel Facility, 5275 W 120th Ave, Broomfield

• Castle Pines King Soopers #691, 7296 Lagae Road, Castle Rock

• King Soopers Fueling Facility #732, 750 N Ridge Road, Castle Rock

• Costco Gasoline #1014, 5897 Barnes Road, Colorado Springs

• Safeway, 27102 Main St, Conifer

• West Evans Sinclair, 2110 S Federal Blvd, Denver

• Twin Star Energy #2, 3550 Downing St, Denver

• Circle K Store #2709854, 1600 S Colorado Blvd, Denver

• Broadway Cardlock, 6185 Broadway, Denver

• King Soopers Fuel Center #607, 1470 S Sheridan Blvd, Denver

• Costco Gasoline #1652, 4741 North Airport Way Building 2, Denver

• Circle K #2706475, 6702 N Tower Road, Denver

• Circle K Store #2706786, 202 S Briggs St, Erie

• Safeway Fuel Center #1635, 10300 Federal Blvd, Federal Heights

• Safeway Fuel Center #4614, 8206 Weld CR 13, Firestone

• Safeway Fuel #2913, 2451 S Taft Hill Road, Fort Collins

• Singh Food and Sinclair, 213 18th St, Greeley

• S&S Fuels #302, 9171 E Arapahoe Road, Greenwood Village

• Circle K Store #2709880, 7701 E Orchard Road, Greenwood Village

• R B Food And Gas, 11010 E 120th Ave, Henderson

• Johnstown C-Store, 106 E South 1st St, Johnstown

• K & D Enterprise Inc, 1490 S Wadsworth Blvd, Lakewood

• Coal Mine Gas Express, 9819 W Coal Mine Ave, Littleton

• Bowmar Gas Express, 5200 S Lowell Blvd, Littleton

• Costco Gasoline #443, 8050 W Quincy Ave, Littleton

• Costco Gasoline #468, 8686 Park Meadows Center Drive, Lone Tree

• King Soopers Fuel Center #702, 1619 Pace St, Longmont

• King Soopers Fuel Center #675, 13057 S Parker Road, Parker

• Costco Gasoline #1022, 18414 Cottonwood Drive, Parker

• Murphy Express #8621, 13001 Copperhead Trail, Parker

• Costco Gasoline #1027, 4000 River Point Pkwy, Sheridan

• Costco Gasoline #480, 600 Marshall Road, Superior

• Safeway Fuel Center #1873, 9640 Washington St, Thornton

• Costco Gasoline #629, 16375 N Washington St, Thornton

• Costco Gasoline #1178, 4665 Weitzel St, Timnath

• Big D Oil Co. #64, 8214 6th St, Wellington

• Circle K Store #2741185, 5390 W 112th Ave, Westminster

• Costco Gasoline #440, 6400 W 92nd Ave, Westminster

The Division of Oil and Public Safety also received complaints about a handful of stations not included on the list, and those stations remain under investigation to determine if the gas sold there was contaminated, Hope said.

Hope did not specify the number of stations that remain under investigation, but he said it was in the single digits.

Customers who were sold contaminated gas should where they purchased the fuel, state officials said. They can also file a complaint with the online or by calling 303-866-4967.

“Unfortunately, the Division of Oil and Public Safety is not involved in that reimbursement process,” Haavind said. “We receive the complaints, we test the fuel and we work with the station owners on making sure that consumers know where to go for support.”

The first step is for affected customers to report the issue where they bought the gas, but any damage to vehicles from the contaminated gas will ultimately be paid for by Sinclair, Hope said.

Colorado officials can help “encourage” gas stations on Sinclair’s list whose owners claim not to be affected by the bad gas, or who otherwise aren’t cooperating with customers, to honor claims, Hope added.

While customers who started experiencing engine issues after Thursday were likely not affected by this specific distribution error, Hope said they should still file a complaint with the division so the agency can investigate.

“Consumer complaints happen all the time, certainly not in this volume, but this is a reality of our work,” Hope said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The German-based discount supermarket chain announced Monday it will open more than 50 stores across the Denver and Colorado Springs areas, supported by a new distribution center in Aurora.

The move marks Aldi’s first expansion into the state, with the Aurora facility expected to open in 2029 and bring hundreds of new jobs to the region.

“One in three U.S. households shopped at Aldi this past year, and in 2026 we’re focused on making it even easier for customers to shop our aisles first,” said Aldi U.S CEO Atty McGrath in a news release.

“That means bringing Aldi to even more neighborhoods, upgrading our website and planning additional distribution centers to keep our shelves stocked with the products our shoppers love.”

As Aldi enters its 50th year in the United States, the discount grocer plans to open 180 new stores by the end of 2026 and is outlining expansion plans for the next five years.

The company said it will continue expanding in Southeast and Western markets and will open three new distribution centers nationwide, including the Aurora center and facilities in Goodyear, Arizona, and Baldwin, Florida.

In addition to Colorado, Aldi is expanding in key U.S. markets such as Maine, Phoenix, Las Vegas and the Southeast, while continuing to convert nearly 80 Southeastern Grocers locations to the Aldi format.

Since acquiring Southeastern Grocers in 2024, Aldi has converted and opened nearly 90 stores, with plans to convert more than 200 in total by the end of 2027.

With its increased footprint, Aldi said it will operate nearly 2,800 stores by the end of 2026, moving closer to its goal of 3,200 locations by the end of 2028.

By 2028, the company said it will have invested $9 billion over five years to expand its store footprint, strengthen its supply chain and upgrade its online shopping experience.

“These strategic investments are all about making sure customers can continue to count on us for the quality, affordable groceries and enjoyable shopping experience they love,” McGrath said.

“As we look ahead to our next 50 years in the U.S., we’ll continue to earn shopper loyalty by staying true to what’s made Aldi successful: keeping things simple and delivering real value.”

and launching its first U.S. store in Iowa in 1976, Aldi now operates thousands of stores in more than 10 countries.

“For the first time in a while, I can give the good news that actually, the cost of a meal looks like it’s going to be down this year,” said Dawn Thilmany, professor of agricultural and resource economics at Colorado State University.

Thilmany said turkey prices are a major reason for the shift, after several years of inflation tied to avian influenza and supply chain disruptions.

“Everybody has a different statistic out there, but it’s probably between 5 to 10% (lower) and it also depends on on what you buy,” she said.

“A turkey is not a turkey anymore. There’s frozen turkeys, there’s fresh turkeys, there’s organic turkeys — but I would say the most consistent number I’ve seen for someone who plans to buy a typical frozen turkey, a pretty normal size, is that it’ll be 5% cheaper this year.”

However, Thilmany said some canned and processed foods may still cost more because of higher labor costs and tariffs on imported materials such as aluminum for cans.

“This might be the year to try to make your own cranberry sauce, because anything that’s going to be in a can in the middle of the aisles is going to have a slightly higher price point,” she said.

Tariffs that previously affected items such as chocolate and coffee have , so home bakers may see some relief. But certain ingredients, including sweet potatoes, could be impacted as farmers are still feeling the repercussions of Hurricane Helene that destroyed crops in North Carolina, Thilmany said.

However, she said consumers and retailers are adapting in different ways.

Grocers are pushing bundled holiday-meal deals to help shoppers save, including grocery giants like Target, Costco, King Soopers, Safeway and Walmart, which is offering a Butterball turkey for 97 cents per pound,

“We know every dollar and minute counts — which is why we are offering a low priced, one-click Thanksgiving Meal Basket featuring iconic brands like Butterball and Stove Top alongside trusted Walmart private brand items,” said John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S., in a recent news release.

“We want every family to be able to share a meal and celebrate without compromising on quality, quantity or tradition.”

Customers are buying the bundles, but they are also planning meals more carefully, eating out less and trying to reduce food waste, Thilmany said.

“The real way to keep this cost-effective is to do as much of it from scratch as you can, because basic food ingredients are always going to be cheaper than something that’s had a lot of work or hours spent on creating it for you,” she said.

Looking ahead, Thilmany said ongoing and reversed tariffs will continue to influence the price of key holiday and everyday foods. While some tariffs have recently been lifted, future policy decisions could shift prices again.

Thanksgiving meal bundles across several grocers:

• Walmart����ap Thanksgiving meal serves , the lowest price since Walmart launched the program in 2022.
• Target����ap Thanksgiving meal , or less than $5 per person.
• Costco is offering a , while supplies last. The bundle serves eight to 10 people.
• King Soopers has Thanksgiving meals for a Boneless Turkey Dinner that serves four to six people, and up to $170 for a Thanksgiving Feast Bundle that serves eight to 10 people. The meals are customizable, with à la carte sides available, and must be ordered at least 24 hours in advance.
• Safeway is offering a for $80 that serves six to eight people.

The 19 people needed hospital care and four died after eating foods linked to the nationwide listeria outbreak.

So far, Colorado doesn’t have any known cases, but some of the recalled foods went to stores in the state.

Listeria is most severe for people who are over 65 or have compromised immune systems. It also carries severe risks during pregnancy because of the possibility of premature birth and severe illness in the baby.

The products distributed to Colorado that could have listeria contamination include:

• , sold at Safeway and Albertson’s
• , sold at Walmart
• , sold at multiple retailers
• , sold at Walmart
• , meal delivery service through Kroger and affiliates
• , sold King Soopers and other Kroger affiliates

Other recalled products sold in Colorado include:

• products that may contain wood, sold at multiple retailers
• that may contain metal, sold at multiple retailers
• Aquastar and Kroger , that could contain trace amounts of a radioactive element, sold at King Soopers and City Market
• , distributed through the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of Agriculture commodity program

The 122,000-square-foot Marketplace store will feature a range of amenities, including sushi, a Murray’s Cheese Shop and a Starbucks cafe. Shoppers will also have access to pickup and delivery services, a drive-thru pharmacy and a new fuel center equipped with five pumps and eight EV charging stations.

“We are thrilled for the opportunity to serve the Louisville community with another store and remain committed to being a great community partner,” said Chris Albi, President of King Soopers.

“This project allows us to grow our footprint, better serve our loyal customers, and invest in the future of this community.”

King Soopers anticipates the new store will open in the summer of 2026 and will provide more than 250 jobs.

The new site represents a $23.6 million investment and is part of King Soopers’ long-term growth strategy, according to a Friday news release.

Additionally, in alignment with their social impact plan, the retail giant said it donated $5,000 to , a food bank fighting food insecurity across Boulder and Broomfield counties. King Soopers employs over 22,000 associates and has 120 grocery stores across 37 cities in Colorado.

The news not only raised concerns about potential job losses, but about reduced access to groceries for low-income residents — the creation of “food deserts” — and the negative impact the closures could have on Front Range neighborhoods and small towns on the Eastern Plains.

That said, some Safeway customers The Post talked to this week acknowledged their neighborhood stores were old and needed work if they were to stay open.

Safeway informed the state in 10 separate letters under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act on Tuesday that it would be letting go of a combined 617 workers as a result of store closures along the Front Range.

“The store is expected to close to the public on Nov. 7, 2025, but associates could continue to work at the store to close operations for a period of time after that date,” wrote Heather Halpape, director of communications for Safeway’s Mountain West Division, in a phrase repeated in all of the letters the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment received.

Halpape also said the company hoped to find employment at other stores for some of the workers being let go.

The cities impacted include Englewood, Northglenn, Denver, Aurora, Fort Collins, Loveland, Colorado Springs, La Junta and Lamar.

The largest layoff, 85 workers, will happen at the store at 1425 S. Murray Blvd. in Colorado Springs, and the smallest one, 50 workers, will occur at the store at 860 Cleveland Ave. in Loveland.

On average, 62 workers are being let go per store.

“This closure affects 53 dedicated associates in Lamar, and while Safeway has plans to place some into positions at other locations, we recognize the deep impact this will have on these employees, their families, and our community as a whole,” wrote Lamar Mayor Kirk Crespin in a . Lamar is a small town in southeast Colorado on U.S. 50.

“While this is a significant loss, Lamar is a resilient and strong community. We will continue working closely with our economic development partners to recruit new businesses — especially one that can provide similar goods and services to meet the needs of our residents.”

Even with a Walmart Supercenter only a short drive from the Safeway closing at 906 E. Olive St., and Farmer’s Country Market close by, Lamar is losing a valuable grocery store option.

Michael Hart, city manager for La Junta, also shared a similar sentiment with Lamar’s mayor.

“It is with deep sadness that we acknowledge the news that our Safeway grocery store will be closing its doors permanently,” he said on to the community.

“While this closure is difficult, it is not the end of La Junta’s story. Our community is resilient. We are already engaging with regional and national partners to explore new grocery options that will meet the needs of our residents and strengthen our local economy.”

La Junta also has a Walmart Supercenter on U.S. 50.

Crespin said that he was told that the decision to close their Safeway was made because of lower sales, the increase of expenses from the labor strike that happened earlier this year, and the failed Safeway/Albertsons merger with competitor King Soopers and City Market.

UFCW Local 7, which represents workers at eight of the 10 Colorado stores set for closure, said in a statement that they are also working to ensure that workers at all of the affected stores are given as many options as possible to remain employed.

However, the Union anticipates that the closures could result in hundreds of job losses.

“We call on Safeway to rethink this disastrous approach to shrinking its corporate footprint and, instead, invest in Colorado communities with new and improved stores,” said UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova.

Neighborhood impact

This isn’t the first time a grocery store closure has prompted concern.

The Montbello community faced a similar situation nearly a decade ago when its only full-size grocery store, also a Safeway, closed its doors, creating a significant gap in food access and turning the neighborhood into a “food desert,” according to Donna Garnett, CEO of the Montbello Organizing Committee.

“Immediately afterward was, ‘what are we going to do? Where are we going to shop?’ Our community was — and is still, a community that is — somewhat isolated,”  she said.

“It was certainly a great concern to folks.”

When asked about the immediate and long-term effects on a community when a big-box grocery store or the only nearby grocery store closes, Garnett said it can have significant impacts.

These include reduced access to food, difficulty obtaining groceries because of limited transportation, job loss and even negative effects on a person’s health, especially when the only remaining options are convenience stores.

“You’re sort of left with purchasing processed foods or not having access to fresh meats and fresh produce. That begins to take a toll on the health and wellness of people,” she said.

On Wednesday afternoon, Safeway customer Mary Jo Bush called the news “a sign of the times” after learning the company plans to shut down stores across the state. Yet Bush said she saw it coming.

“I’m not really surprised, it����ap an old store,” she said of the Aurora location at 12200 E. Mississippi Ave., which she said is notoriously “unkept” and “dirty.”

Nearby resident Sebastian Jones said the closure “kind of sucks” as he takes the bus to get groceries for himself and roommates.

Jones said Safeway has a few cheap options, however, he doesn’t expect the closure to significantly affect his daily access to groceries, as there are several alternatives nearby.

Directly across from the Safeway in Aurora is GW Supermarket, and just a six-minute drive down Mississippi Avenue, shoppers can find a King Soopers, Costco and Sprouts Farmers Market.

Near the Denver Safeway at 1653 S. Colorado Blvd., other options include King Soopers, Whole Foods Market, Natural Grocers and Target.

Another shopper, Will, who preferred to only share his first name, said many people will lose their jobs as a result of the closures and called it a “management problem.” He also said that recent price increases have not helped the situation.

In Loveland, customers of the store on North Cleveland Avenue not only worried about the impending impact on them, but on the employees they’ve gotten to know over the years.

“All the cashiers, the managers, everybody in there — they’re wonderful people,” said Tim DiNoia, a longtime customer. “I don’t want them to lose their job, and hopefully they can absorb them into the other stores.”

Garnett said the most impactful outcome of the closure in her neighborhood a decade ago was the community’s unified response to food insecurity. This response led to the creation of the , a network of nonprofits and school gardens committed to providing healthy and accessible meals to families in need.

It also led to Montbello’s FreshLo Hub project, a mixed-use development project aimed to bring affordable housing, retail, an arts education center, mental health services and a nonprofit grocery store known as the Montbello FreshLo Fresh Food Market.

The market, located near Peoria Street and East Albrook Drive, is expected to open by mid next year, covering 5,200 square feet of grocery space that will offer grocery staples, fresh produce and made-from-scratch prepared foods.

Garnett said they are very close to closing on the final financing that they need to build out the store and have it staffed by people from the community.

“That was a community response to the fact that, well, are we just going to sit back and wait for somebody to come here and address our food needs? No, we’re going to take it on as a systemic issue and really build out a lot of capacity,” she said.

Garnett said the goal will be to open three stores starting starting in March, with the capacity of building toward at least five stores total in the next two years in Denver.

“While my focus started on Montbello, it is understood that the need for access to affordable, healthy, wholesome, nutritious food is not just a Montbello issue. It is across this country,” she said.

The following Colorado Safeway stores are set to close by Nov. 7:

• 201 E. Jefferson Ave., Englewood
• 500 E. 120th Ave, Northglenn
• 1653 S. Colorado Blvd., Denver
• 12200 E. Mississippi Ave., Aurora
• 3657 S. College Ave, Fort Collins
• 860 Cleveland Ave., Loveland
• 5060 N. Academy Blvd., Colorado Springs
• 1425 S. Murray Blvd., Colorado Springs
• 315 W. 2nd St., La Junta
• 906 E. Olive St., Lamar

Loveland Reporter-Herald reporter Jocelyn Rowley contributed to this report.

Safeway recently combined two divisions, and Heather Halpape, director of communications for Safeway’s Mountain West Division, said in an email statement the closures are part of that restructuring. A store in New Mexico and one in Nebraska will also close operations on or before Nov. 7.

“We continuously evaluate the performance of our stores, and occasionally, after long and careful deliberation, it becomes necessary to make the difficult decision to close certain locations. We are working to place affected associates in nearby stores wherever possible,” Halpape said.

The following Colorado Safeway stores are set to close:

• 201 E. Jefferson Ave., Englewood
• 500 E. 120th Ave, Northglenn
• 1653 S. Colorado Blvd., Denver
• 12200 E. Mississippi Ave., Aurora
• 3657 S. College Ave, Fort Collins
• 860 Cleveland Ave., Loveland
• 5060 N. Academy Blvd., Colorado Springs
• 1425 S. Murray Blvd., Colorado Springs
• 315 W. 2nd St., La Junta
• 906 E. Olive St., Lamar

“With a focus on growth, these closures will enable us to continue investing in our store network and better align with evolving customer needs,” she said.

UFCW Local 7, which represents workers at eight of the 10 Colorado stores set for closure, said that not only will some metro neighborhoods have fewer food-buying options, but residents in La Junta and Lamar will be left without a full-service grocer. Consumers will be faced with a 60-mile drive to find similar services, the union said in a statement.

“With these store closures, Safeway/Albertson has chosen to put the interests of Wall Street fat cats ahead of ordinary working Coloradans and our communities,” Local 7 president Kim Cordova said.

Recent grocery store closures include a Safeway store in Lakewood at 9160 W. Colfax Ave., along with a King Soopers store at 5050 E. Arapahoe Rd. in Centennial.

Last year Safeway and its parent company Albertsons attempted to merge with Kroger Co., the parent company of King Soopers and City Market. The attempted merger fell through at the end of 2024.

The winning Colorado lottery tickets ranged in value from $50,000 to $ 1 million, according to a news release from the Colorado Lottery.

Lottery officials said the $1 million ticket was sold at a Safeway gas station in Peyton, a town in El Paso County.

A ticket worth $100,000 was sold at a King Soopers in Arvada, and tickets worth $50,000 were sold at a Harts Gas & Food in Estes Park and a King Soopers in Castle Rock, according to the release.

Two other winning tickets, neither of which took the jackpot, were sold in Colorado for Monday’s drawing, . One worth $2 million was sold in Parker, and one worth $150,000 was sold in Colorado Springs.

Without any jackpot winners, Saturday’s Powerball drawing has jumped to an estimated $1.7 billion — the third-largest in the game’s history, according to . There have been more than 40 consecutive drawings without anyone matching all six numbers, and no one has won the grand prize since May 31.

The Powerball jackpot reached $2.04 billion in May 2023 and $1.72 billion in April 2024.