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BLUEBIRD BEAT
SPONSORED EVENT
The 11th Annual Colfax on the Hill/Wayne Jakino* Memorial Golf
Tournament Golf will be held on Wednesday September 17th at City
Park.
Raise money for the Beautification of Colfax Avenue.
Foursomes Wanted
Sign up before Aug. 20th for only $72 per golfer (savings of 20%
off the $90 green fee) click here to register online.
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Next Happy on the Hill:
Wednesday, August 13 at the recently re-opened Red Room, 320 E. Colfax. Hope to see you there.
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Congratulations St. Paul and Colfax! Check out the Westword Article.
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Colfax Avenue in the National News
A Notorious Main Drag, in Line for Big Changes
By DAN FROSCH
Colfax Avenue has been the Rocky Mountains’ answer to Greenwich Village. But ambitious new zoning laws and increased police presence may sanitize its legendary grit
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The New York Times, November 26, 2007
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Know your neighbor:
It’s about more than coffee at Hooked on Colfax.
The BlueBird District is buzzing – and everyone’s Hooked
on Colfax.
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BLUEBIRD
BEAT' S INTERVIEW
An interview with a local business:
Hooked on Colfax,
owned by Scott and Malissa Spero,
Aug. 9th 2006
Interviewing Malissa Spero,
interviewed by Coulter Sunderman
TO VIEW HOOKED ON COLFAX
HOURS OF OPERATION AND SPECIALS
[
CLICK
HERE]
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| Q:
How long have you been operating your business? |
| We opened our
doors on October First, 2005, almost a year ago! The existing
space was a bookstore that served coffee, and we switched
emphasis to a coffee shop that sells books. We also have
an outdoor patio and free Wi-Fi internet access |
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| Q:
Give us a little history on how you made your start here
in the Bluebird District |
| We found a listing
on Craigslist, of all places, for spaces to suit our needs
and we had a choice between the Highlands area and the Bluebird
District. We chose this neighborhood over the Highlands because
it is so lively. |
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| Q:
What motivates you to operate a small business? |
| Scott had wanted
to start and own his own business, and my expertise lies
with coffee. His motivation to own a business and my connections
with many local vendors led to the perfect union of owning
a coffee shop. |
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| Q:
Why did you choose this particular location? |
| It really came
down to a matter of timing, everything just came together
at the most opportune time and we decided to go for it. |
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| Q:
What plans do you have for the future of your business? |
| We are currently
planning on building a back patio by next spring to provide
more seating and good shade provided by the trees at the
back of the building. |
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| Q:
Do you have any involvement in the local community? Why/why
not ? |
Our entire
basement is dedicated to reserved space for local organizations.
On most any night of the week you can find something going
on down there. We host a theater company, book clubs, Argus
Fest, Spiritways classes, and soon we will be providing
our basement to the Pan African Arts organization. We believe
that the success of the neighborhood depends on community
involvement, it is good for everyone – we are providing
the forum for involvement and the community is showing
its support for us by utilizing it. In addition, we get
support other local businesses by getting most of our goods
from local vendors:
- Coffee from Pablo’s
- Tea from Vail Mountain
- Chai from Third Street
- Granola from Udi’s
- Burrito’s from Burrito del Mar
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| Q:
With the difficulties of competition with major corporations
why operate a small business in the first place? |
| Owning and
operating a small business demands long hours and is very
stressful. Even breaking even is a difficult task. So why
do we do it? First of all, we get to be our own bosses.
Despite working 70 hours a week, we get to dictate how
our business is operated in every minute detail. We are
allowed the creativity to market ourselves however we want,
and to build upon our own visions. We are able to do things
that franchises would never be allowed to do, starting
with our involvement in the community – we don’t know of
another coffee shop, franchise or otherwise, in the city
that reserves its space out for community projects. This
is very important to us, by operating a small business
we put ourselves in the same position as everyone else
in the neighborhood – by having freedom from enfranchisement,
we are able to suit the needs of the community better.
Every community has different needs and we build our business
to meet those needs. |
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| Q:
How about a little background info on yourself. Where are
you from, what brought you to Denver, and to this community? |
| Scott and I
met in Denver while attending college in 2000. After college
we moved to San Diego to be closer to the ocean, where
we then decided to teach English in South Korea. After
a year of that, considering the cost of living and that
we might never be able to own a business in San Diego,
and because we missed our friends and all that there is
to do in Denver, we decided to move back here! |
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| Q:
What changes have you seen on Colfax since your business
started here? |
| We have noticed
that the quality of life in the neighborhood is on the
rise – I remember, in the late 90’s, going
to a show at the Bluebird. When the show was over, we went
straight to our car and left – we would have never
walked down, or even across the street, to stay and hang
out in the area. Now it is much different, it is a much
safer environment and provides many more entertainment
options. |
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| Q:
Tell us a good story about something you’ve seen
on Colfax: |
| We once had
a guy who tried to hurdle over our patio. He cleared the
first fence fine but was well short of the second, and
made a beautiful face-plant on the sidewalk. The patio
escaped unharmed. |
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Q:
What would you like to see happen to this area
in the coming years? |
| We would
love to see even more involvement among the businesses
in the community. And more coffee drinkers, of course. |
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