Shop Local: Small Business Saturday Markets in Denver

Is Small Business Saturday going out of style? Let’s hope not. Shopping local is good for businesses in every neighborhood in every city and state in the U.S. It’s about families who build those businesses from the ground up, and their neighbors who buy a product from just down the street instead of bankrolling Elon Musk and Chinese sweatshops.

Give those mom-and-pop businesses a vote of confidence. Go out and spend your dollars in your neighborhood, and Small Business Saturday will never die.

Here are some key places to shop this weekend:
Bag of Colfax
Order on Saturday, November 25, available until sold out
Do you have that one friend who lives and dies for East Colfax Avenue? The Colfax Ave Business Improvement District’s Bag of Colfax takes good care of the Colfax habitué (you, perhaps?) while promoting local small businesses during the holidays. Beginning on Small Business Saturday, the BID will be taking orders online for a standard ($60) or VIP ($85) bag stuffed with five to seven products from Colfax shops, plus a secret gift from Colfax Ave. The VIP option comes packed up in a fancy tote made from upcycled materials from vintage street banners — decorated with designs from a dozen local tattoo artists! What could be cooler? You’ll receive an email when your bag is ready; pick it up at Balanced Root Apothecary, 1405 Ogden Street. Don’t dally: Bags can only be ordered — here — until they're sold out.
Small Business Saturday® (Weekend)
Pearl Street Mall Corridor, between Eighth and 13th streets, Boulder
Through Sunday, November 26
In spite of inroads made by corporate chains on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall, they are far outnumbered by locally owned independent shops. Small Business Saturday is sacred along the corridor, where those homegrown businesses are eagerly waiting to hand out some of that Pearl Street customer service that makes them stand out. It’s never a dull day on the mall, but on SBS, everyone’s smiling. Don’t miss the Small Business Saturday Market at Yoga Pearl, 900 Pearl Street, for a chance to shop even more local vendors between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Olde Town Arvada Holiday Makers Markets
Olde Town Square, 5700 Olde Wadsworth Boulevard, Arvada
Saturday, November 25, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, November 26, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Small Business Saturday Kick-Off: Saturday, November 25, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Olde Town Arvada does its own version of the old-world holiday market, with charming vendor huts popping up on Friday night for the entire Small Business Saturday weekend. The market continues Fridays through Sundays right up until December 23, with new vendors taking over each week. But on SBS proper, the whole district moves to combine the joy of gift-shopping with Olde Town’s official holiday kickoff, complete with free coffee for the first 100 shoppers to stop by Olde Town Square at 10:30 a.m. and a tree-lighting ceremony at 6 p.m., plus the market, ice skating in the square and a participatory march through the streets in the wake of brass band Guerrilla Fanfare (5 p.m., from Carly's Boutique, 7401 Grandview Avenue).

Beaver Creek Holiday Market
Beaver Creek Village, Beaver Creek Resort
Saturday, November 25, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Small businesses show up for the Beaver Creek Holiday Market, as skiers catch Beaver Creek’s opening-week festivities.
Small Business Weekend, Cherry Creek North
Cherry Creek North, University Boulevard to Steele Street, between First and Third avenues
Saturday, November 25, and Sunday, November 26
For decades, Cherry Creek North has been a stronghold of small local businesses, and that’s still true, even if the character has gotten tonier in the district: Seventy percent of the CCN BID’s 260 retailers and services are locally owned. And they take Small Business Day seriously, stretching it out over three days and offering a Santa’s sack full of special deals, events and/or services to holiday shoppers. On top of all these reasons to go, the neighborhood is decked out with a Winter Wanderland of lights and activities, as well as the Cherry Creek Holiday Market, open daily through Christmas Eve.
Holiday D’art Market
D’art Gallery, 900 Santa Fe Drive
Through Sunday, December 17
Artists are small businesses, and original art makes a fabulous gift for that culturally motivated relative. D’art Gallery offers plenty of options: The artist co-op’s talented members have covered the walls with affordable art for everyone. What a fun way to shop small!

EBCA Winter Magic Arts Extravaganza
Wibby Brewing, 209 Emery Street, Longmont
Saturday, November 25, noon to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, November 26, noon to 4 p.m.; continues same days and times on December 8 to 10, and on Saturday, December 16, 2 to 6 p.m.
Another artist group — members of East Boulder Counter Artists — offers three chances for artful holiday shopping this season, beginning over SBS weekend. EBCA artisans are bringing a mix of ceramics, paintings, jewelry, fiber arts and woodwork to Wibby Brewing in Longmont, where shopping will mix well with food-truck fare and Wibby’s award-winning brews.

Denver Digerati Trunk Show
Evans School, 1115 Acoma Street, Room 325 (enter at Acoma)
Saturday, November 25, and Sunday, November 26, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
On a smaller scale, a handful of experimental artists will host a trunk show of art, fashion and other surprises — perhaps items made with digitally designed fabric? — at Denver Digerati’s studio in the Evans School Building this weekend.

Horseshoe Holiday Market
Highlands Masonic Temple, 3550 Federal Boulevard
Saturday, November 25, and Sunday, November 26, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The tried-and-true Horseshoe continues to host Small Business Saturday and Artist Sunday markets at the Highlands Masonic Temple, and it’s just like going home — the vibes are always cozy and the vendors exemplary. Indoors, more than 100 local vendors include ceramic artists, candlemakers, clothing designers, fiber artists, jewelers and vintage collectors, and the outdoor tents are filled with artisanal foods and handmade kitchen goodies. Don’t miss the market’s new cocktail bar while you’re there. Can’t make it for SBS? Horseshoe will pop up again next weekend at the Breckenridge Brewery in Littleton.

Tennyson/Berkeley Small Business Holiday Passport Crawl
Participating small businesses on Tennyson Street between West 32nd and 46th avenues
Saturday, November 25, and Sunday, November 26, during business hours
This year marks a decade of Small Business Saturday Passport Crawls on Tennyson Street, where it was first dreamed up by Nicole and Simon Woolsey-Neech of Jolly Goods, a gift shop still open in the neighborhood. The rules haven’t changed much since then: Pick up a passport at any participating business (current list here) and get it stamped at each place you stop to eat or shop; then return the stamped passport to Jolly Goods by December 2 for a chance to win a Tennyson Street gift basket. Small Business Saturday, Stanley Marketplace
Stanley Marketplace, 2501 Dallas Street, Aurora
Saturday, November 25, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and continuing every Saturday in December
Stanley Marketplace was built on the foundational ideas of upholding community values and supporting local small businesses (read the Stanifesto here). The place oozes quality for every pocketbook, and you can do all your holiday shopping in one place, including buying the tree, entertaining the kids and mailing wish lists to Santa. The management and the center’s businesses are so serious about keeping the money in the community that they extend Small Business Saturday to every Saturday through the end of December with special promotions and events.

Small Business Saturday, Edgewater Public Market
Edgewater Public Market, 5505 West 20th Avenue, Edgewater
Saturday, November 25, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Call it Stanley’s little sister: The Edgewater Public Market follows similar philosophies, and is in line with support for the locals. On Small Business Saturday, visitors can register for a $1,300 prize that comes in the form of thirteen $100 gift cards. Most businesses will open bright and early at 9 a.m., and live music will tune up at 3 p.m.

Small Business Saturday and Artists Sunday
Downtown Longmont
Saturday, November 25, and Sunday, November 26, during business hours
Downtown Longmont and its Creative District go big for both Small Business Saturday and Artist Sunday, beginning with an all-out street fair Saturday with ice carvings in St. Stephen’s Plaza, roaming holiday characters and giveaways for shoppers. Galleries step up on Sunday, with openings, artist pop-ups, open studios and more, along with the EBCA pop-up at Wibby Brewing and an Art Market at the Firehouse Art Center.

Small Business Saturday and Artists Sunday Holiday Market
Firehouse Art Center, 667 Fourth Avenue, Longmont
Saturday, November 25, and Sunday, November 26, noon to 5 p.m.
Firehouse showcases Longmont’s artists and makers in the gallery for the weekend, with the idea that nothing’s more personal as a gift than a work of art.

Junkyard Art Holiday Art Bazaar and Market
Junkyard Social, 4121 Pearl Parkway, Boulder
Saturday, November 25, 1 to 5 p.m.
Junkyard Social invites you to “ditch the Amazon cart” at its Small Business Saturday Holiday Art Bazaar and Market, which supports local makers and artists while also making the shopping part a little more fun. How? By serving nifty cocktails and delicious snacks, live music and kids’ craft activities.

Mistletoe Market
Dairy Block Alley, 1800 Wazee Street.
Saturday, November 25, through December 17, Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 p.m.
The new Mistletoe Market takes over the Dairy Block Alley on Saturdays and Sundays for the holiday season, with an SBS kickoff showing off its all-Colorado vendor list, and a vendor turnover policy that will bring fresh merchandise every weekend through December 17. Stroll the alley with carolers, sip a cocktail, snap a selfie or try your hand at a screen-printing station; custom gift-wrapping is also available for that special splurge. RiNo Holiday Bazaar
Zeppelin Station, 3501 Wazee Street
Saturday, November 25, and Sunday, November 26, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The RiNo Holiday Bazaar is the only Denver Bazaar location on the ground for Small Business Saturday, with eighty-plus local vendors and holiday-themed pop-up bars outdoors, and the indoor food hall at Zeppelin Station open for warming your tootsies and eating. As usual, general admission is free, but you’ll have to pay up for VIP entry and endless mimosa privileges at Eventbrite.

Denver Makers Market: Holidays in the Highlands
Leprino Foods, 1830 West 38th Avenue
Saturday, November 25, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Denver Makers Market also has only one location open for Small Business Saturday, but it’s a big one: at Leprino Foods on West 38th Avenue, which actually began its own success story in 1950 as a mom-and-pop grocery on the same corner that is now home to the world's largest manufacturer of mozzarella cheese. Holidays in the Highlands has the Colorado makers that make SBS so popular in our state, as it sits in the Leprino’s parking lot. Even Santa — we assume he will be homegrown — will make an appearance, from noon to 3 p.m. Admission is free, RSVP at Humanitix.

Holiday Sip & Shop Artisan Market
Saturday, November 25, 1 to 5 p.m.
Bonacquisti Wine Company, 4640 Pecos Street
The Bonacquisti winery in Denver’s Sunnyside neighborhood is not only a local business — it was founded on Pecos Street in 2006 — but it also makes its wines from grapes raised on Colorado’s Western Slope. The Holiday Sip & Shop Artisan Market also qualifies as a Small Business Saturday icon because owners Paul Bonacquisti and Dr. Judi Diaz Bonacquisti regularly display work by local artists, including Chicano painter Daniel Luna, who also creates labels for their wine bottles. On Saturday, you’ll find a lineup of local artisans selling wares and bottles of wine to taste and buy.

Find dozens of holiday gift markets happening after Small Business Saturday here.