Shopping

In this chapter we focus on three major shopping areas that have a great concentration and variety of stores: Cherry Creek North; Downtown, LoDo, and Larimer Square; and South Broadway. The Cherry Creek and Larimer Square areas are small enough to view by foot, and that’s how we’ve written those sections, with directions from one place to the next. South Broadway is more spread out—we survey the shops from north to south, but you’ll want to travel by car or bus rather than walk the whole span.

To finish off your introduction to Denver shopping, we’ve included a roundup of where to go for arts and crafts, books, clothes, food and gourmet cooking supplies, furniture, gifts, and outlet and bargain stores.

Most stores are open daily and accept credit cards, but call ahead to be sure.

But first, the basics—department and grocery stores. Major department stores with one or more locations in Metro Denver include Macy’s, Nordstrom, Dillard’s, Sears, Neiman Marcus, and JCPenney. For Western wear, Rockmont, Miller Stockman, and Sheplers have locations throughout the metro area. Sports Authority, Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), Dick’s Sporting Goods, BassPro Shops, and Cabela’s stores supply Denverites with gear for camping, hiking, biking, rafting, fishing, and other outdoor activities.

The big supermarket chains include King Soopers and Safeway. For natural foods, visit any of the Whole Foods, Sunflower, or Vitamin Cottage markets.

Shopping - The Arts

Denver’s arts scene has exploded over the last two decades, in sync with the maturation of all the city’s cultural attractions. A great deal of the credit goes to former mayor John Hickenlooper, now governor of Colorado, who built his campaign around the notion that healthy cities are fueled by a thriving creative environment. Artists of all types have felt the love, but business leaders also acknowledge that emerging neighborhoods attract artists, and artists attract the kind of attention that speeds their redevelopment. Core business leaders, members of the Downtown Denver Partnership, have worked hard to showcase the city’s cultural attractions in a designated theater district, and city fathers support budding artists by funding studio and performances spaces.

Art lovers are the ultimate winners as galleries, theaters, concert halls, and literary cooperatives incubate throughout the city. In this chapter we’ve compiled a partial list of theaters and theater companies, art galleries, and art museums. Music venues, bars, movie houses, and restaurants with live entertainment can be found in our Nightlife chapter, and other kinds of museums are covered in the Tours & Attractions chapter. Given that one person’s definition of culture may overlap with another person’s idea of popular entertainment, expect to toggle between chapters to find the things that most appeal to your tastes. We begin by describing the Denver Performing Arts Complex, the historic hub of the city’s cultural scene, then move through performing groups, theaters, theater companies, dinner theaters, popular music venues, art museums, community art centers, and art galleries. Finally, we detail the literary arts by describing the city’s many writers’ organizations.