Natural Grocers says theft, safety issues behind closure of Colfax Avenue location in Denver

Natural Grocers will close its downtown Denver store at the corner of Colfax and Washington at the end of the month. The company says the decision was made after careful consideration of its operating challenges, including theft and safety issues.

The store is located in a crime hotspot for the Denver Police Department. A Walmart further east on Colfax in Aurora also closed this year for issues related to crime.

In a statement, Kemper Isely, Co-President of Natural Grocers, said: "We have been actively working to address the theft and safety issues impacting our store at Colfax and Washington for some time. Despite our investment in security and loss prevention strategies over the years, these factors have continued to challenge our ability to operate our store safely and sustainably, and we have made the difficult decision to close our doors at this location. This was not an easy decision."

The store is one of 46 Natural Grocers locations in Colorado.

The location's closure doesn't leave the area in a food desert. There's a Safeway, and King Soopers is not far away. Those companies also added measures to reduce theft including reduced hours, off-duty officers, and locked shopping carts.

Denver District 10 Councilman Chris Hinds says the closure came as a surprise. The property owner recently told him theft has gone down. He knows crime hurts businesses, and this month construction starts on a huge transit project – the East Colfax Bus Rapid Transit. The hope is the bus corridor will reduce crime in the future.

"We are advocating for additional funding to keep businesses afloat," said Hinds. "I'm really excited about Colfax BRT, and I'm so sad that Natural Grocers isn't going to survive through the construction and into the unveiling of the finished BRT. I really think that'll be a transformative change for the businesses, the residents, and commerce on Colfax."

Store-wide closing sales at the location will begin on Friday, Oct. 4, with discounts of 10% off everything. All sales will be final.

The company is working closely with crew members who will be affected by this closure to identify transfer opportunities to other stores. Crew members who are unable to transfer will be offered a transition package, including severance pay and health benefits.

Co-President Isely added: "We are grateful to our Crew members who have worked to provide world-class customer service in challenging circumstances and will partner with them to identify other opportunities at Natural Grocers. We remain committed to serving the Downtown Denver area, including our customers in the City Park West, Capitol Hill, Baker and Cherry Creek areas, and believe that our neighboring stores will continue to provide these communities the world-class customer service, quality and affordability for which Natural Grocers is known."