Best Of Denver® 2009 Winners
Shopping & Services
There's a lot to recommend about Gimme Anime, but integrity is the foremost reason to feed your cultish obsession for Japanese animation, comics, serial graphic novels and accessories there. Owners Roger Morse and Emily Morse-Lee run a strictly bootleg-free business and stand by the quality of the stock, both new and consigned, that they put on the shelves of their Aurora strip-mall shop. But it's also an encyclopedic go-to for the very best stuff around, decked out with locally made fan art, where they'll gladly bend over backwards for you with special-ordering and wish-list services. Plus, the store offers a Gimme Manga frequent-buyer's card that will net you a free Fruits Basket (or other serial comic) for every nine that you buy and will provide meeting space for fellow mangamaniacs. That's not just retail; that's community.
Common Threads is a combination high-end used-clothing consignment boutique, local-product gift shop and creative lab, where you can learn to repurpose your newly purchased secondhand rags or send your kid to a spring-break sewing camp. Designed also with a dual purpose — to serve at-risk girls from Boulder's AIM House with special programs and to cater to the public at large — its all about the woman-to-woman experience (though guys are certainly welcome) with a green tinge, offering everything from a mentoring helping hand and a friendly stitch-and-bitch atmosphere. Believe it: This is the boutique of the future.
Anna Bé is exactly what you always imagined a wedding-dress shop would look like: a charming boutique with exposed brick walls and four neat rows of simple, elegant designer dresses; one massive pedestal before a three-tiered mirror; and not another bride in sight. Adorable, never-pushy co-owner Anna is only concerned with you. She'll bring you and your friends champagne and stay out of your way while you try on the first few dresses. Then she'll casually hang a dress outside your door and suggest you give it a try. It looked plain on the hanger, but on you, it's absolutely perfect.
Best Coin Dealer in Uncertain Times
Dave's Gold & Silver Exchange
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. In a perilous economy, lots of people look to precious metals and collectable coins, but there are plenty of weirdos in the field as well as professionals. We like Dave Eichenberger's shop because the folks there are friendly, well-versed in the eccentricities of coin collecting, never intimidating and eminently fair, both in what they sell and what they pay for old coins and jewelry. Dave dispenses good advice for collectors, can spot a three-legged buffalo nickel in a pile of mere spenders, and can perform a quick assay to let you know if Grandpa's ring is real gold or 99 percent pure ersatz. And that's what you want from professionals these days: a quick winnowing of the chaff from the golden wheat.
Best Collection of Photography Books
Camera Obscura Gallery
So the photography nut on your gift list has asked for a stack of hardcover photo books by people with names like Lee Friedlander, Alfred Stieglitz and Annie Leibovitz. Don't know where to turn? Camera Obscura Gallery has plenty of fine art; in fact, the gallery and store claims to have the biggest selection of photography books in Colorado. Plus, they'll let you peruse the books before you buy them. Spend an afternoon there flipping through some of the best photos ever — then solve your gift-buying problems in a flash.
You know Le Bakery Sensual for its naked-lady cakes, giant penis icing designs and inappropriately hilarious desserts. But the erotic party shop and bakery also lets customers put their money where their mouths are: On Fridays, shoppers get 10 percent off their order if they flash the sales staff. Welcome to the naked city.
Best Do-It-Yourself Book by a Local
Vintage Hairstyling Lauren Rennells
Colorado hair stylist Lauren Rennells is a lady with a past, boasting an extensive career of styling for film and photography shoots, and it's in the past that she found the inspiration for Vintage Hairstyling, a picture-perfect manual on how to create retro looks, from pageboys and pompadours to victory rolls and finger waves. In spite of the vintage spin of her book, Rennells takes full advantage of modern tools to create a hair primer that's not just glamorous, but also easy to use. The days of Veronica Lake, Betty Grable and Ava Gardner (to name a few) are finally back at your fingertips.
Forget pastels and frills: Brian and Melissa Ball of Rock the Cradle think that babies are cute all on their own and don't need any help from their clothes. Yet they also agree that even babies deserve to make a fashion statement — one that leans toward the same organic natural fabrics, edgy contemporary graphics and local and independent vendors that their parents favor. Stop and shop, but when you visit, be sure take advantage of the DIY T-shirt bar, where you can pick a blank onesie and customize it with an iron-on transfer, right there in the store. Call it fashion in the moment, mini-sized.
Babysitter's Nightmare, a junior division of the longstanding goth and punk-wear shop FashioNation, does all it can to live up to its name, in screamin' black, red and leopard skin. But you do have to admit it's kinda cute, and the clothing tends to be well-made and clever. For girls, you can choose from zippered jumpers that go great with a black "Spoiled Rotten" black tee, striped leggings or skinny pants, vinyl soft high-heeled booties by Heelarious, leopard-print apron onesies for petite pinups, and black-cat Mary Janes; boys will look tough in garage jumpsuits, mini Vans-style slip-ons and "Future Pirate" or "Kid Vicious" T-shirts, riding on a retro trike. They're never too young to be street.
Sooner or later, everyone has to deal with that pile of neglected memories in an outdated format gathering dust in the attic or garage. Whether it's a stack of fading VHS tapes from the 1980s, home movies from the 1950s or a mélange of slides and snapshots that span generations, Steve Dalbec's home studio, the local franchise of a national digitalizing service, is the place to go. Dalbec can convert a range of old formats, including 16-millimeter movies, to DVD or computer files; he can clean up and edit scratchy images of ancient baptisms and graduations; and he'll produce handsome DVD "albums" of your cherished (if seldom-seen) family odyssey, complete with searchable menus and titles. The rates are competitive with other transfer services around town, with an added bonus: free pick-up and delivery by courier.
LoDo's redevelopment continues at a staggering pace, but every new building means one less parking lot, and without them, finding a place to leave the car gets harder and more expensive. There's still one asphalt oasis among this wasteland of meters, however: Wewatta Street right behind Union Station. This stretch of two-hour free parking is hardly ever full, and it's a short walk from here to just about anywhere in the Central Platte Valley or LoDo. Be warned, though: Once Union Station's long-awaited redevelopment begins this year, these spots will surely go the way of nickel-fed parking meters.
If youre trying to start a business and need to know how much women spend on shoes within a ten-block radius of your house, or if youre just nosy, this is the database for you. BusinessDecision crunches vast arrays of census data and presents a range of demographic and economic profiles tailored to the research needs of small businesses everything from standard reports on household income and ethnicity to more complex portraits of communities spending and lifestyle habits. Want to know how many industrious urban fringe types populate a certain zip code as opposed to Main Street USA middle-of-the-roaders or laptop and lattes trendsetters? Just grab your library card and head for the research resources section of the DPLs website. Theres a charge for using some of the services elite features, but reference personnel should be able to guide you through the impressive free offerings.
Best Green Manicures (With Wine)
Sweet Life Nail Bar and Lounge
We all have our favorite manicurists, but Sweet Life Nail Bar and Lounge has an edge, a gentle one, that just might change your mind. It starts with the toxin-free, long-lasting, many-colored Zoya products that owner Diane Bilello insists on using, which leaves the Stapleton salon virtually odorless, a novelty in and of itself. But then sink back on this: Sweet Life's lounge-like atmosphere, replete with overstuffed armchairs and warm lamplight instead of fluorescent bulbs, takes the hurry and stress out of having your nails done, especially when you throw in a glass of wine, mimosa or Grey Goose martini from the bar. A bar? In a nail salon? Say no more. Mind changed.
Best Hole-in-the-Wall Comics Store
Kilgore Used Books and Comics
The local comix community is small but dedicated, and you could say the same of Kilgore's, the tiny used bookstore shoehorned into a space along 13th Avenue. Opened last summer by Capitol Hill Books veteran Luke Janes and his pal, Dan Stafford, Kilgore — named for the iconic Kurt Vonnegut character Kilgore Trout — fills a much-needed niche. Featuring a carefully handpicked selection of books, especially those with a classic sci-fi or underground bent (think Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick and Charles Bukowski), it also specializes in comix, graphic novels and zines, both local and esoteric. Janes and Stafford have also hosted special events showcasing Denver cartoonists such as John Porcellino and Noah Van Sciver. And you always get something for your trouble at Kilgore: They give away a comic-art bookmark with every purchase.
Older homes are typically loaded with character, and some people love nothing better than to stroll through a neighborhood and check out the architecture. For them, there Denver's Old House Society and its guided walking tours. The outings are hosted by Denver homeowners and designed by the nonprofit's boardmembers (who collectively have architectural, construction, historic preservation and zoning experience), and there are refreshments afterward. There's no better way for the old-house lover to spend an afternoon. It's good to be home.
Behind the quaint pink door of this, well, charming shop, you'll find an ongoing flea-full of quality antiques and vintage decor. But like any true flea market worth its dust, Oh, So Charming only opens its pink door for one weekend monthly, offering the same kind of changing selection you'd find on the street, under an umbrella, at one of the town's periodic outdoor markets. Co-owners Melissa Bragg, Gwen Arnold and Marianne Baldwin began their business at outdoor fairs and decided to try a more permanent outlet after hearing the same old question — "Do you have a shop?" — asked over and over again. This alternative, housed in a renovated mouse-gray bungalow, offers the best of both worlds, every second Friday and Saturday of the month.
Once Betty Basket Liners creator Tara Thomas Byrnes got her first cruiser bike, she couldn't wait to accessorize. So she sewed herself the first Betty Basket Liner, and damn if it wasn't as cute as a button! Marketing them was a no-brainer: Currently available online-only in a few patchwork combinations of cheery fabrics, the well-stitched, fully-lined bike accessories come in two sizes — square to fit traditional wire baskets and oval to fit wicker and mesh versions — and include extra pockets, a cell-phone cubby and a built-in key ring. With a Betty Basket Liner, you'll really be on a roll.
We had doubts when one of the most enjoyable used bookstores on the Broadway scene headed a few blocks south last year, into a smaller space. But fear not. The stock isn't quite as wide-ranging as in the former locale, but Fahrenheit's remains one of the most eclectic, surprising and offbeat places to browse away an afternoon, whether you're hunting for an Edward Bunker first edition, a Selby softcover or a romp through medieval history. Thankfully, many of the vintage paperbacks from the 1950s and 1960s, rich in hard-boiled and quasi-Beat writers, have survived the move, too.
So if print is dead, how has Denver's most venerable antiquarian book dealer managed to hawk his fine leather wares — in upscale Cherry Creek digs, no less — for all these years? Opened in 1973, the Hermitage has survived the rise of amazon.com and the death of countless publishing houses, as well as a stint on one of the less-lovely blocks of East Colfax, and now boasts one of the city's most reliable inventories of first editions, fine art books, Western Americana, military history — and, of course, books on books. Proprietor Robert Topp heads a knowledgeable and friendly staff that keeps true bibliophiles coming back for more.
Fire eater, belly dancer and mask maker Tiffany Smyth is young in years, but her skills as a craftsperson seem as old as the Renaissance, which is a clear influence for her. And it's a potent combination of youth and wisdom that goes into creating the flights of fancy she builds from leather, feathers and beads — from the most realistic elf ears you've ever attached to your head to larger-than-life black-light dragon masks with fiery haloes of flame. Lightweight and absorbent, they are also as comfortable as they are impressive to look at. This is your go-to, the next time you need to look smashing at a masquerade.
Hat-making is one of those old arts that, in the age of mass production and cookie-cutter style, are fast becoming lost. But that didn't stop milliner Erin Saboe from breaking the mold. Her impetus? Flat-out love. Saboe, who studied the milliner's craft at FIT in New York, loves hats and wants the world to know how wonderful a good one really is, which is why she opened Go Go Chapeaux. Here, she sells her own headwear — from popular newsboys to wide-brimmed pool hats in cheery fabrics — reshapes and customizes old ones, and continues her one-woman crusade to put a hat on every head.
This hoppin' stretch of Broadway has been more than ripe for an ice cream store for a long time, and finally, Sweet Action, with its open-air storefront and funky flavors, delivers the goods. Creamery mavens Samantha Kopicko and Chia Basinger start with some fresh basics — milk and cream from Diamond D Natural Dairy and scintillating spices from Savory Spice Shop — and then throw everything for a loop by creating new tastes you never heard of in ice cream. Vanilla Porter, for instance (made with Breckenridge Brewery's dark brew), Horchata, Garam Masala and Brown Sugar Banana. More imaginable flavors include a dreamy White Russian, Chai Tea, Baklava and antioxidant-rich Pomegranate Sorbet, along with a vegan-friendly Coconut that will fit right into the neighborhood.
There used to be a typical antique mall jammed into this warehouse-like West Colfax building, but that was before Jen Schafer and her Blue Sky Books and Media took it over. Now it's a diamond in the rough: Essentially a community gathering place in progress, it's not only home to Schafer's sprawling used bookstore, which donates a percentage of all sales to Doctors Without Borders, but it also offers basement space to KGNU's Trust the Dust non-profit used CD and vinyl record store and Skull Gate Games, a haven for role-playing gamers looking for more of the same. Upstairs, there are artist studios, a gallery and a dance studio; until this month, the Free Boutique clothing exchange also held forth in part of the space, and the Holistic Business Center, an organization giving workshops for small business owners, is in the process of setting up an office. But Schafer is also trying to show it off as place to hang out without spending a lot of money, by encouraging artists, musicians, authors and poets to perform, meet, jam and otherwise make use of the space in a community-building way.
Made in a small kitchen in Wheat Ridge, Bonnie's line of natural salves and ointments are good for the aches and pains of an active life. They take the sting out of climbers' skinned knees and split thumbs, soothe sunburns and sore muscles and help repair cracked lips and feet. Tree resins, shea butter, arnica, comfrey root and Colorado sunflower oil are among the secret ingredients that go into Bonnie's expanding product line, which includes a climbers' salve, lip butter and the essential Pain Eraser. Distribution is a bit erratic — at present, the products can be found in spots ranging from a couple of Army surplus stores to the Colorado Mountain Club gift shop to an Ace Hardware store in Edgewater — but look for the Bonnie's brand to become as common as Burt's Bees as the word gets out about these locally produced healing marvels.
Laurie Hessemer has lived in a lot of places, but when she decided to mine her background in green building supplies, she chose Colorado. Paint, she reasoned, is an affordable home-improvement commodity, especially for people who decide to stay and fix up their homes instead of selling, and that's how she conceived of New Era, the only store in the metro area that specializes in paint products that are free of those polluting volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The cost for consumers, she says, is competitive with other types of paint, but here's what you will live without if you switch: paint odor and toxic fumes. Plus, VOC-frees come in a rainbow of hues and can be custom tinted. New Era is painting the town green.
Deb Dempsey and Tonya Payne have created a place where the eats are all natural, unprocessed and delish. New restaurant, you might ask? Not exactly: Mouthfuls is where Berkeley Park denizens and their pets try out a smorgasbord of doggie munchies, from hand-baked cookies and scrumptious training treats to bags of chow from makers like California Natural, Candidae and Nature's Variety Raw Frozen Diets. Canine or feline, pets all inhale the store's exclusive dehydrated chicken chunks, and the toy selection would fill many a doghouse with hours of indestructible fun.
The maxis are coming, the maxis are coming! Maybe not, but if you do find yourself hiding your legs underneath one in the coming seasons, have you thought about what to wear over it? Truthfully, the ankle-length coats at this Ethiopian boutique that caters to Muslims would do just as well over a mini when the fall breezes start to blow, and the price is right. Some coats are mighty trendy, such as the hip denim dusters that will keep you snug and stylish, and the shop's wide-leg jeans, tunic sweaters and embroidered caftans are well crafted and often stunning. What a way to make an entrance!
What is Re-Ment? It's a Japanese phenomenon, a company that manufactures Puchi Petites plastic miniatures, which resemble those fake food models used by Japanese restaurants to entice customers, only in diminutive form. There are dozens of sets to choose from, including $5 blind boxes. But beware: Puchi Petites are seriously addictive, and you'll find that if you buy the Seafood Surprise packet, with its tiny red plastic lobster, you might soon catch yourself coveting Healthy Happy Bagels or All American Apple Pie. It's childish. It's weird. It's cute. And if you want it, go straight to Talulah Jones.
Best Place to Get Whiskey and a Western
Watson's Liquor and Grocery
Stressful work environment? Bad breakup? Some days simply beg to be killed off with a bourbon, a beer and an old Western movie. Happily, you can get all three at Watson's, which has held down the corner of Ninth and Lincoln since the 1950s. The store started selling old Westerns — which are prominently on display above the counter — on DVD a couple of years ago. Priced at $7.99 each, they are popular around the holidays and on Father's Day, as well as with some regulars, one of whom has bought every title. Examples include: Apache Rose (1947), with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans; Abilene Town (1946), with Randolph Scott and Lloyd Bridges; Randy Rides Alone (1934), with John Wayne; and Tulsa (1949), with Susan Hayward and Robert Preston. Giddyup!
Best Place to Get Your Holes Drilled
A & B Bowling Supply Co.
Move over, Hollywood stars: At A & B Bowling Supply, the red carpet is reserved for practice bowls. The plush runner is not there to look good; it's laid out so bowlers can learn the proper handling of their balls. This is the place to go when you need custom drilling while you wait. Be sure to ask for Neil Mortenson; he's sharp as a pin, throwing down bowling wisdom in the form of epigrams. He keeps his finger(s and a thumb) on the pulse of the bowling world and can poetically let you know how the Sarge-Easter Grip helps to stimulate a really high rev rate, as well as how to get spinners to hook into winners. Customers who deal with Neil insist their averages are better, and happily return to purchase trophies and shirts with lettering. It's a place with service to spare.
Caboodle isn't much to look at from the outside: The plain-looking storefront in an unlikely strip mall doesn't attract a lot of attention. But in a way, that matches owner Marlene Nuechterlein's intention to provide stay-at-home mompreneurs, local crafters and out-of-basement businesses an outlet where their locally made and often-recycled wares can be appreciated. Some standouts include Teatulia teas, all-natural soy candles by Evergreen Candleworks, spirit totems by Kit's Wild Women, Best of Denver-winning Baggy-Shirts shopping bags and the Peekaru vest, which fits over mom and baby when using a soft baby carrier in winter; you'll also find knitted items, hand-dyed silk scarves, quilts, CDs, glasswork, natural soaps, cards and many other gift items to choose from. And lately, Nuechterlein has added a series of DIY workshops where folks can also share their talents with their neighbors.
For many urbanites living in the wi-fi world, letter-writing may seem as quaint and useless as butter churning or mustache waxing. At Scribbles, you'll want to leave the soulless world of texting and emoticons at the door. The shop is filled with wedding invitations, stationery and artist-made greeting cards. The baby books are so awesome that many customers decide to make babies just to be able to justify their purchases. A comfy sofa next to a sunny window is provided at the wrapping area at the back of the shop, to allow clients a tranquil space to make the enlightened choices needed for today's gift-wrapping protocols. The staff is graciously helpful and never pushy. It's hard to leave Scribbles without wishing to live in the glamorous days of penmanship instead of this impersonal life in Helvetica.
Several years ago, tea-mistress extraordinaire Roxanne May ran the Oak & Berries at the Holiday Chalet Inn on East Colfax. She eventually turned in her tea bags for other ventures, though not for long: A loyal customer asked her to host a private tea in the Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys, which she did, and continues to do so on a reservation-only basis to this day. But May, who learned her craft at the Brown Palace, really turns it on for the kids, plying them with a sunny and wise personality, pinkie shakes and curtsies, and a dainty spread of excellent finger sandwiches, mini-scones with Devonshire cream and jam and pastries and cakes from Andre's or Devil's Food, all served on flowered china in the museum's Fairy Room. Little or big, girls uniformly love it, and when they're done sipping and flexing their pinkies, there's still a whole fascinating museum out there to explore.
Best Resale for Haute Kids
Couture Kids Consignment Boutique
Couture Kids does sell stuff for boys from Wes & Willie and Quiksilver, but the overall effect of the place is overwhelmingly girl, favoring upscale duds, including hot styles from Juicy Couture and Guess, preppy outfits from Mini Boden, trendy layered looks from Little Mass, cute little dresses from Baby Lulu and so on. Owner Cailin Clements also stocks new merchandise, mostly made by local moms, such as custom pillowcases in bright contemporary prints, Scrabble-tile jewelry, embroidered baby blankets, bottle-cap charms, sparkly onesies and other gift items. And, if you drop in on a Friday or Saturday, Clements offers a changing selection of scrumptiously rich Nomelie cupcakes from the Parker-based bakery.
If you're going to be a big lady, why not just be one? With places like this to shop at, it's still easy to look like a million, and we're not talking pounds. At UpScale Plus, the focus is on quality consignments, which means you won't leave the store looking like you've thrown on a sack. Instead, expect used career wear from Talbot's, Ralph Lauren, Jones Signature, Ellen Tracy, Nordstrom and other tony labels, as well as better boutique wear from Coldwater Creek and J. Jill. Also on the racks are formal wear and stylish casual attire, as well as a selection of resale items for the little ladies. Don't be shy: The price here is right, and so are the sizes.
Erin Bolz of West Side Sinners definitely knows her niche: If you've got a pack of cigarettes rolled in your sleeve, have a Vargas-girl obsession and think Sam Phillips and Carl Perkins created the world, you're probably part of it. And to best serve you, her rockabilly lifestyle store's got everything the cruising crowd could possibly ask for, including hot-blooded retro-chic styles by Stop Staring and Bettie Page Clothing for both the ladies and the guys; Lucky 13 tees and work shirts; Rockmount cowboy shirts; and big sunglasses, shiny tuck-and-roll bowling bags and other accessories. It's a natural stop the next time you're cruising West Colfax.
Sure, curly-haired girls can get a haircut at the same salons that their straight-haired friends patronize, but they risk the dreaded triangle hair (flat on top, poofy on the bottom) or the rounded, teased cut à la '80s hair-metal enthusiasts. Luckily for us curly girls, Denver has Shapes Salon and Studio, where the specialty is the Deva Curl method of dry-cutting curly locks. The hair-care system espoused at Shapes emphasizes washing with silicone- and sodium laurel sulphate-free shampoo, then drying hair with a pillowcase, but even if you don't follow those steps, you'll just need one haircut in their experienced hands for your curls to go from frizzy mayhem to Botticellian brilliance.
Walk into the Greetings From Colorado shop on Concourse A, and you might walk out with a T-shirt manufactured in Haiti — boasting the wrong date for the founding of Denver. Wander over to Denver's Picture Show Popcorn, and you'll find neither a Denver-based movie (a rare commodity, admittedly) nor Colorado corn. For a true taste of this state before you leave it, your best bet is the New Belgium Hub on Concourse B, at the bridge to the regional jet facility. Here you can not only enjoy many of the delicious beers brewed by the Fort Collins-based brewery, including Fat Tire, but you can order up a full meal with a distinct Colorado flavor — and even pick up food to go. Now, if we could just convince DIA to set up concourse carts that sell growlers of the beer that made this state famous; what better souvenirs could travelers take back to their brewpub-poor states? And remember, since you've already cleared security by the time you reach the concourses, there's no liquid ban to dry up this surefire marketing scheme.
From I-70, Bass Pro Shop looks like a mirage — a giant funplex surrounded by a sea of boats in landlocked Denver. And given the lack of a Northfield exit off the interstate, it can feel like you're chasing a mirage when you try to actually reach this store. But once you locate the proper exit (Quebec Street) and wind your way to the giant sporting goods outlet, you'll find your efforts rewarded with aisle after aisle devoted to every sport imaginable, as well as to home furnishings, gift items, clothing, even jerky. And if contemplating all the possible purchases is exhausting, you can always take a breather in the handy bar and restaurant. Special bonus: Bass welcomes dogs, hunting or not.
There's quite a bit of high-caliber retail at Belmar, but Jennifer Roberts's modern design boutique, Composition, rose above the rest thanks to its plethora of delightfully creative doodads — the sort of stuff that may not be essential to your existence but will surely make life a tiny bit more wonderful. Hankering for a four-lens camera? They've got it. A messenger bag made from repurposed inner tubes? It's right next to the purse fashioned from recycled candy wrappers. A 200-page coffee-table book on typography? Should be one left by the ode to structural packaging. No wonder the place received a shout-out in the New York Times; it's a modern aesthetics' paradise.
The coonskin cap is an icon of American frontier history, and for many decades was a mainstay in any kid's toy chest. But you don't see them around much anymore, which can be a problem when you really need one — because there's simply no easy substitute. Thankfully, you can count on the Wizard's Chest, the Cherry Creek North toy and costume shop (an icon in itself) that carries the iconic caps year-round.
Origins you might already know: Showcasing natural cosmetics in a clean, light store with a grass, ash and concrete color scheme and a pleasant perfume, the operation also gives facials and chair massages, inviting customers to stop and set a while. To make it easier, there's a Pekoe Sip House tea counter within the spacious boutique, with rustic barnwood benches and tables where you can sip a steamy Earl Grey cambric in a clear thermal glass and contemplate the merits of receiving a Denver-centric High Elevation Hydration Facial.
Formerly called Mind Your Manor, Amy Doherty's vintage shop in Downtown Littleton will put you in mind of your grandma's attic, stuffed to the rafters as it is with pure treasure — Scrabble tiles, typewriter keys, bits of ribbon, old-fashioned postcards, tin toys — and bona fide antiques, from pretty flowered teacups to full-sized tables and wardrobes. In spring, there's the added attraction of one-of-a-kind garden ornaments, furniture and quaint pot racks, but in winter, Doherty does up the holiday theme, making this ersatz attic a year-round joy to peruse.
Lovely isn't the first of its kind in these parts and it won't be the last, but the vogue-ish, eco-centric boutique is certainly a sign of the times. The shop, which opened about a year ago in Olde Town by young entrepreneurs Emilie Oliver and Hallie Westall, features reasonably priced but trendsetting clothing made only from sustainable natural fabrics and produced using ecological methods; Oliver and Westall also follow green practices in-store. If cotton, silk, hemp and linen from Alternative Apparel, Big Star, Frenzy and Stewart Brown rock your boat, head to Olde Town, pronto. You'll save money and the environment.
Best Store on North Tennyson Street
Clotheshorse Consignment Boutique
This sister act, owned by Wendy and Sue Sjogren, is a veritable slice of resale heaven, stocked with a goldmine of beautiful bargains that change with every week and season, are chosen with care and are impeccably, immaculately clean. Cashmere? Piles of it. Coach? Buttery bags hanging from the rafters. High-end, unscuffed pumps? In the house. Scarves? Designer jeans? Business suits? Yes, yes and yes. It's all there, and if you're patient, you could just see the price on your favorite item drop, thanks to a store policy of reducing the cost by increments if something languishes on the racks too long.
Pome is perennial winner in our book, so you'd think we'd have a hard time thinking of something new to say about it. But that's just the thing: Kate Feinsod's adorable home-away-from-home Pome is undergoing a move and a makeover, and we just have to crow about it. Opportunity knocked when the Art Pedlar, a longtime ceramic shop across the street from Pome, closed its doors, leaving a vacant spot on the block. Long story short, Feinsod's moving her entire shabby-chic kit-and-caboodle from the currently sweet-but-cramped shop to the more spacious one, where she'll be able to realize a few dreams about what a neighborhood boutique should be. We can't give it all away, but let's just say it has something to do with Kaladi's coffee, Red Trolley ice cream cups and a garden.
Greg Fellman opened the local Seven Cups, a franchise based in Tucson, with a mission. After living in China, where his interest in tea blossomed, he hoped to introduce Denverites to the subtleties of fine Chinese teas by sharing his knowledge while offering an exclusive selection of quality, organically grown leaves. And he does it there every day, selling dozens of loose-leaf varieties and an inexpensive tea service. But on Friday afternoons at 3 p.m., Fellman hosts a weekly tasting where the sampling is free and the ambience, enhanced by Chinese artwork and rosewood furniture, is lovely.
Best Store on the 16th Street Mall
Jerri's Tobacco Shop and Fine Wines
Hidden behind the Hard Rock Cafe and in the shade of the Denver Pavilions, Jerri's Tobacco Shop isn't the kind of store you happen upon accidentally. It's a place you seek out because someone's brother recommended it or because a guy at the bar told you about it. Located downtown since 1955, when Jerry Goodman opened for business, the shop has moved several times and is now owned by Jerry's son Bret. But it still hooks customers up with a wide selection of stogies, cigar accoutrements, pipes, tobacco and, since 2006, a nice trove of wines, including a couple of Colorado vintages. It's the perfect place to end a long day of work or kick off the beginning to a too-short weekend.
Shoe aficionados and sisters Laurel and Lindsey Tate are into the whole foot, and they've decided that you don't have to sacrifice either comfort or style when choosing the right footwear. We like their shop partly because it is still independent on a stretch of the mall that's becoming less and less so, and because it features a truly cosmopolitan selection of cute kicks and favors interesting brands. Walk on in.
Though a small store, Rejuvanest feels as if it's got an endless variety of nooks and crannies each jammed with baby blankets and bibs, aromatic bath products and scented ironing water or hand-reupholstered chairs. But it's also bedtime central, whether you're aiming to feel sultry on your wedding night or ootsy-cutesy in your itsy-bitsy bathrobe when you're three months old. Hanging off one door, you might find some lacey Wendy Glez thongs, or, on another rack, a selection of seductive Victorian-style camis. It's the place to find both wedding lingerie and hooded towels for tots, filmy gowns and wholesome Colorado-made flannel PJs for cold, snowy evenings in front of the fire. Nighty-night!
It will discombobulate you at first to see tea strainers and bike locks hanging side by side, and the odor of rubber and grease isn't what you usually expect to mingle with the delicate scents of tea. But somehow it all works at Urbanistic Tea and Bike Shop, a little nook in Highlands Square that is run by the brother-sister team of Ethan and Michelle Bontrager. Ethan is a bike mechanic who also repairs wagons, strollers and just about anything on unmotorized wheels; Michelle, who's clearly tasted every single one of her selection of 140 teas, is the tea expert, and she usually keeps a pot of something soothing brewing behind the counter. It's the ultimate urban experience.
Denver-based Teatulia doesn't market a lot of teas: it offers a simple range of eight organic, pesticide-free leaves and blends direct from a sustainable Bangladesh tea garden. But all of them are grown naturally and packaged in biodegradable canisters. Teatulia also supports a Bangladeshi cooperative by feeding a portion of profits back into the community to establish cattle herds and improve hygiene, education and literacy. And the topper is that Teatulia teas really do taste good: rich, sweet and perfectly cured, each small-batch brew sticks in your memory, a cup well-savored.
We already like Safari Seconds enough to have raved about it here in 2006 and 2008, but the place, a dirt-cheap, refugee-run thrift store that helps African immigrants get on their feet, just keeps on giving. Since moving last summer to a more visible space on Broadway, the shop has hosted clothing giveaways every last Friday of the month, sometimes with a bit of fanfare and African food and music, but always offering secondhand specials at the best price of all: free. Spring cleaning was never so much fun.
It's a bureaucratic slap in the face stuck under your windshield wiper. A stupid parking ticket for not moving your car on street-sweeping day — same as the one you got last month. But now those nefarious parking regulators have met their match, courtesy of www.mymotormaid.com. The online operation sends you monthly e-mail reminders to move your car the night before street-sweeping day. All you do is go to the website's Denver page, fill in your street-sweeping info and wait for your reminders. That's it: No fees, no advertisements, no strings attached — and no ticket in the morning.
Best Way to Spice Up the Kitchen Like It's 1899
Margaret Husted Culinary Collection
Martha Stewart not doing it for you? Rachael Ray lost her "yummo"? If so, turn back the culinary clock by taking a long, strange trip into the University of Denver's Margaret Husted Culinary Collection, one of the country's largest cookbook libraries, with 9,000 books and magazines, some dating back centuries. Here you'll find the ingredients for any gastronomic fancy, whether it's how much lard to rub into your sweetbreads or how to add Borax to your meatballs, cancer risk be damned. And while you can't take these treasures home — no one likes removing marinara from seventeenth-century vellum — you can photocopy pages and then hit the kitchen like they did before haute was hot.
What could be more Boulder than an eco-friendly department store? Ellie's covers all the bases: There are green building materials, compact fluorescent lightbulbs, recycled copy paper, non-toxic cleaners, organic cotton sheets, just about everything compostable (from paper plates to trash bags) and even electric scooters. The green mega-market, an offshoot of manufacturer Eco-Products, which has been making biodegradable items in Boulder for nearly twenty years, is founder Steve Savage's dream come true and could easily become your green pasture, as well.
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