Small Business Spotlight: The ZONE Uses Retail to Uplift Community

When wandering around on Santa Fe Drive on a First Friday, don't miss out on a little shop called the ZONE tucked a bit off the main drag by Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center. The ZONE is a business program of NEWSED, a community organization that has served Denver neighborhoods since 1973.

The ZONE also acts as a retail incubator for NEWSED, where vendors who graduate from its small business program can rent space to sell their products. Not only does the ZONE provide an opportunity to shop local and to support often underserved entrepreneurs, but it also provides support to the surrounding neighborhood. NEWSED focuses on long-term economic problems in disadvantaged communities by securing and coordinating resources for neighborhood revitalization, developing shopping areas and services, fostering minority business ownership and hosting cultural events and activities that showcase the community’s predominantly Latino population.

We went straight to the source of all things Santa Fe Drive and community investment: Andrea Barela, the president and CEO of NEWSED, who has followed the path of community building that was blazed by her mother, Veronica Barela, and other Latino civil rights activists. We also spoke with Cheryl Lucero at the ZONE, who told us more about her role as a trainer at NEWSED and what she does specifically at the business program.
Westword: How did the ZONE come into existence?

Andrea Barela: NEWSED owns the building where the ZONE is located, and Jay Salas, a well-known community leader in business and in the Latino community, had his business Suavecito in the space. When Jay took his business online, the space opened up, and we had the idea of creating an incubator to serve the small-business community in a way that could help build retail businesses and showcase their products.

Where did the idea of the retail incubator come from?

NEWSED is a member of the National Association of Latino Community Asset Builders, a strong national group focused on Latino-serving organizations across the country. At one of their conferences, we saw evidence of the incubation model happening all over the country. After learning about how it was working for other cities, we decided to open the ZONE here.

How does a vendor get the chance to sell their products in the ZONE?

First, they have to complete an eight-week small-business course. We licensed a well-developed course from an organization in Seattle called Ventures. It’s a proven program that we’ve been able to adapt to the Denver market well. Once they get through the course, the vendor is eligible to lease an 80-square-foot spot for about $100 a month. Right now, we have eight active vendors, but we’re always looking to provide new opportunities.

While a vendor is here with us, our business coaches help them develop a business plan. We also partner with the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver to help prepare any necessary legal documentation. We also have a web designer to help vendors build an online presence. And then, of course, when they are in the ZONE, they get real-time feedback from customers and the NEWSED staff, who work with them to continually improve their products and presentation.

What types of products and businesses will shoppers find in the ZONE?

Since we opened in 2013, we’ve hosted about fifty different vendors. Right now, we’re supporting some really exciting businesses that have everything from jewelry, soaps, blankets and pillows to brand-new fashion pieces from L.A. and beard balms.

Ashae Natural & Organic Hand Made Soaps has been making soaps, lotions and spa products since 2010. Through The ZONE, LaTasha Bell has been able to create a space to showcase her products and is now creating custom soaps for a hotel. Anita Cooper, of Nita Louise Designs, originally just wanted a space to sell her bags, but now is looking for a loan to buy more sewing machines and teach other people how to sew. Susan Luna’s Luna Apparel highlights her and her brother Dan’s Chicano art on fashionable athleisure-wear pieces, and she just received their certifications with the city, which will allow her to expand their markets to places like DIA. Her Story Boutique & Gallery is Gwen Holmes’s boutique and gallery that specializes in modern Western and Native American apparel, jewelry, gifts, decor, art and more.

We are devastated to share that Jim Dorkins, the founder of Doc Goodbeard beard care, passed away last week, and we will support whatever path his family chooses to take with the business he built, when they are able. Jim will be missed. We enjoyed his presence at every First Friday, and his commitment to his business was inspiring. NEWSED staff and board send our deepest condolences to his family and friends.
Who staffs the ZONE? Is it the vendors?

NEWSED staffs the ZONE. We find that it runs more smoothly to pay our own staff, but the vendors often stop in, and most of them are here for First Fridays.

What do you think people need to do to truly support small businesses?

We want people to shop local — shop outside of the malls! There are so many awesome places to go. We can use our dollars to support corporations, or we can give our money to a family who can actually use it to become more self-sufficient. You need to shop where you can watch that money grow, and not just watch it disappear into the corporate void. You really can change someone’s life! Everyone is freaking out about supply chains, but there is so much to be seen and bought locally.

What’s the next step for the ZONE?

Our ultimate goal is to build more opportunities for people to start retail businesses in areas with a lot of foot traffic. We need the ZONE at the airport, at the National Western Complex. We’ve done tremendous things with the resources we have, but we want to expand as far as our model can take us.

You have some folks who have stayed connected with the ZONE for a long time — one of the names that comes up a lot is Cheryl Lucero. Can you tell us about Cheryl?

Cheryl has always been very committed to NEWSED; she was part of the task force for the ZONE, [and] she was providing small-business consulting long before that. She has her arms in everything, and what she knows about the community is so valuable. I really respect the work she has done. She is truly an unsung hero in Denver, and I just really love and respect her — and we’re lucky she is still with us doing the work.
We also spoke with Cheryl Lucero, one of the small-business instructors at NEWSED who runs her own consulting business, Key Strategies for Business Success, and staffs the ZONE part time.

Westword: Tell us about your work with NEWSED and the ZONE, and why you have been working with them for fourteen years.

Cheryl Lucero: I'm here because of the community of small-business owners we serve. The diversity within the ZONE is really important to me. I am proud to have our Lakota sister, our Black- and brown-owned businesses, and so many women entrepreneurs. The ZONE is a vehicle for anyone to access services. I call them my “ZONEsters” and we are able to give them ongoing support and provide them with training, and that real world experience having their products out is a critical element. I mean, this is a boutique on Santa Fe Drive that they get to learn in and grow with.

I’m one of the founding mentors, and I have 24 years invested as an entrepreneur, and I understand what their journey is because I’m on my journey, too. They get to see me on the path, and I’m a reflection of who they are when we’re walking the path together. I drive my kids nuts talking about small business and marketing, but teaching it is my world, and even when I leave this earth, I will be teaching. I love it so much.

Can you speak a bit about the challenges facing small-business owners of color?

Startups and small businesses run by people of color were already at a disadvantage before COVID. It’s difficult enough because our communities don’t have a lot of opportunities, and COVID only magnified that. We’re still at the starting line when others have already taken off; we don’t have banking relationships, our communities have historically been kept out of banking, we need more technical assistance and support on how the accounting systems work, and on and on — the discrepancies just based on those basics is too big of a gap.

Organizations like ours are always trying to address these gaps and help them to grow and scale. These have always been problems, but these are the institutions we turn to in a crisis, so we need to get them caught up. We are now a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) which is a designation given by the CDFI Fund to specialized organizations that provide financial services in low-income communities and to people who lack access to financing.

The ZONE, 725 Santa Fe Drive, noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday (closed Christmas); noon to 9 p.m. during First Fridays.

In the weekly Small Business Spotlight, Erika Righter shines a light on unique local enterprises and the people behind them who bring value to our communities. Suggest a place to profile at [email protected].