Apartment explosion, light rail derailment hurt Aurora businesses
Gina Di Tullio has food allergies. She says it's hard to find restaurants that serve food she can eat, so she decided it was time to open her own gluten-free vegan bakery and cafe. She found a space in the Parkside Eatery; a food hall located on Alameda and Sable in Aurora that is near, the light rail and shares a lot with the Parkside Collective Apartment Building.
She figured the residents of the Parkside Collective and light rail commuters would be a good customer base.
"It was nice. I did a little bit of canvassing. I put some cookies and brownies on everyone's door," Gina said.
She opened Gina's Kitchen in August, and her choice of location paid off.
"Every week we were growing just a little bit more which was exciting," she said.
Just one month later everything changed. The Parkside Collective apartment building exploded displacing residents for the foreseeable future.
Eleven days later the light rail derailed right outside their front door shutting down service temporarily. Gina says it has really hurt business.
"We don't have hardly any breakfast customers anymore," she said. "Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday was just really, really slow."
Gina says it isn't just her. She says the food hall she's' located in has struggled as well.
"The eatery has been dead," she says.
To make up for the loss, Gina has cut her breakfast hours and started promoting herself to local office buildings and other apartment buildings a little further away to try to keep afloat. She says even though times are tough, she is determined not to give up on her dream.
"I want to build it back up again. I love Parkside. I love the whole idea of this walkable neighborhood, and I know people will come back. I know they will," she said.
