BOULDER Boulder County was eating natural and organic before it became cool.
The region has been a cradle for the industry for decades, first with long-time community chains like Alfalfa’s Market Inc. and later with home-grown national upstarts like Lucky’s Market.
But in early 2020, Lucky’s Market went from a rapidly-expanding name with 39 stores across the country to hurtling down to Earth after filing for bankruptcy and selling off locations back to original owners or to other chains.
Just more than a year later, Alfalfa’s shuttered its almost 40-year old store in Boulder and its Longmont location after that was open for just under six months, followed by its final location in Louisville. BizWest has also reported that the store was saddled with millions of dollars worth of debts to its vendors as those stores were closed and was ordered by a judge in late March to pay more than $1.4 million left on a defaulted credit line with co-founder Mark Retzloff.
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The Magnificent Mile has long been one of Chicago s biggest tourists draws, and a hot spot for retail flagships that build brands and win over customers.
For the last few years, however, storefronts on the renowned shopping district have been emptying out, and the pandemic has been an accelerant.
Late last year, 10.5 percent of the more than 3.3 million square feet of retail space on the Mag Mile was vacant, up from 7.4 percent in 2019 and 6.5 percent in 2018, according to brokerage CBRE. Upcoming exits from Macy s and Gap will push that rate even higher, to at least 16.5
percent.
That doesn t mean it is time to write the Mag Mile s obituary, experts say. But it is time to reinvent the strip. To get its mojo back post-pandemic, Michigan Avenue needs to become an experience that extends beyond shopping, eating and sightseeing.
hayed open 24 hours. my plan was to get here at 4:00 a.m. reporter: she wasn t alone nearly half the country went shopping this past saturday, now known as super saturday. the last big shopping day before christmas and hanukkah. they spent 34.4 billion dollars, ohat s 10% more than black biday, and this holiday season the average american will spend o1,047, the most ever recorded ine in part to increased jobs and wages. the sales growth comes from creative tactics says amanda lai, with the retail consultancy mcmillan-doolittle. we have ecommerce. hathin that you have mobile commerce, facebook, instagram, ninterest. it s easier than ever to just buy with one click in the app. in stores you re also seeing increased services. target, for example, has buy online, pick up in store. you can drive up and they bring it to your car. reporter: making life easier than ever for procrastinators.