Helmed by husband-and-wife team Maggie and Tyler Clare, the shop was a dream come true when it first opened. “I feel like when you follow your heart, everything just falls into place. This shop is like our own little fairy tale,” Maggie told Westword at the time.
But one year later, the business is pivoting away from its original retail bakery concept. The change stems from a mix of factors, one of them being ongoing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) construction on Colfax, which has left the front of the shop and the surrounding block mired in rubble, dust, heavy machinery and blocked sidewalks. “Convenience drives everything. If there’s even a small challenge — parking, traffic, walking to a storefront — people often won’t bother, especially when they can order online,” Maggie explains. “I didn’t want to sit around waiting for business to happen. I’d rather take action and adapt.”
As of July 19, Le Clare's is now a culinary collaborative space dubbed ViDa Eats Collaborative, offering cooking and baking classes, high teas, pairing events, pop-up markets and more. “As part of the pivot, I’ve been inviting other small businesses — especially women- and minority-owned — to collaborate with me,” Maggie shares. “My focus is on hosting cooking classes, catering, and pairing events, while creating opportunities for other entrepreneurs to share their work.”
Since the shift, the shop has offered several events, including macaron lessons, a High Vibrations Brunch with Kriya yoga, and an upcoming non-alcoholic pairing event with Gruvi.
Beyond the construction, Maggie notes that the traditional retail model just wasn’t working. “We’d make pastries fresh every day, garnish them, put them in the case, but then nobody would come in to buy them,” she recalls. “The front-of-house person would call out sick, or just not prioritize the job because, consciously or not, it felt less important. That’s what happens when people aren’t coming through the door — the work starts to lose its weight.”
During its High Vibrations Brunch event, attendees participated in a Kriya yoga class followed by brunch on the patio.
Sara Rosenthal
Tyler recently returned to Denver from his first assignment in Big Sur, where he was helping to stabilize the land from a massive landslide along Highway 1. “He missed the physicality of that kind of work,” Maggie adds, referencing the fact that this is not the first time Tyler has pursued a physically demanding job. He formerly served as a forest firefighter before his career as a pastry chef. “This just made way more sense for him to pursue and better aligned with his goal of wanting to travel for work.”
But fans of Le Clare's pastries need not fret. “We still make eclairs and desserts. It’s just people now call ahead or email me when they need them. Instead of waiting for walk-ins, I’m focusing on larger orders, catering and classes," she explains.
For now, classes and events are hosted on a rolling basis and catering orders continue to flow in, including a recent spread for nearby East High School. Maggie says she’s excited to see how the Collaborative grows, and she’s hopeful that Colfax neighbors will embrace this new chapter. “It’s not the end of Le Clare’s,” she emphasizes. “It’s just a different expression of it; one that gives me life, and hopefully gives others life too.”
Le Clare's/ViDa Eats Collaborative is located at 2260 East Colfax Avenue. For more information, including upcoming events, sign up for its newsletter or follow @leclaresdenver and @vidaeatscatering on Instagram.
