The temporary shop also offers a good idea of what travelers at Denver International Airport might have seen had the airport accepted the bid of one vendor that had worked with RiNo leaders on a proposal for a space there. But in August, when the airport announced seventeen "exciting new shops and restaurants” with a local emphasis coming to DIA, the list instead included two new convenience stores from Minnesota-based Marshall Retail Group, including a RiNo Market on Concourse C.
Not that Marshall had consulted with the RiNo Art District, an official arts district created a dozen years ago that had taken the RiNo moniker from the River North area that comprises much of the district...and in the process created a nickname that's now firmly attached to this rapidly developing neighborhood.
Denver souvenirs made in the Dominican Republic.
Westword
After RiNo Art District leaders protested the appropriation of their name as well as their concept, they talked with a Marshall rep but found little satisfaction (he seemed surprised that T-shirts could be manufactured in Denver). Finally, Patrick Heck, the airport's chief commercial officer, met with RiNo's executive board and RiNo stakeholders, and they arrived at a solution. "On the heels of that meeting, we made a formal request to DIA and the Marshall Group that there be no relation to RiNo," says Jamie Licko, president of the RiNo Art District. "We explored all avenues, and I think we're content with that decision."
So was Marshall, which is no longer opening a RiNo Market. Instead, according to Stacey Stegman, the airport's director of communications, when that Concourse C store opens, it will be called the Arts District Market.
