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Raices Brewing Co. forced to close

Raices Brewing Co., a Denver brewery on West Colfax Avenue and Interstate 25 near Empower Field, has closed after months of trying to pay back nearly $100,000 in unpaid taxes.

The brewery owners announced last week they had to shut down after getting “unexpected charges” from the City of Denver’s Department of Taxation and the city put a warrant after Raices Brewing couldn’t fulfill its payment plan.

Raices Brewing accumulated about $98,000 in taxes from the Personal Property Tax, which taxes all the furniture and equipment inside of a business between 2019 and 2024, and from penalties and interest from not paying those taxes.

These taxes are separate from the property tax added on to rent, which the brewery said went up from $3,000 to $7,000 from 2023 and 2024.

The brewery began receiving invoices beginning in 2024 for the personal property taxes. Last December, Raices set up a biweekly payment plan with Denver officials to catch up.

“However, the financial impact was considerable, severely affecting our cash flow during the low season — at a time when our industry is still recovering from the global economic challenges of recent years,” the brewery’s farewell note said.

Raices Brewing said while cities may argue these taxes help fund city operations, it’s a “significant burden for small businesses” that have many different types of taxes to pay.

The city attempted several times by phone, email, mail and in person to collect unpaid taxes from Raices Brewery to keep it open, a spokesperson for the City and County of Denver said in a statement to 9News. But Raices Brewing did not fulfill its payment plan.

The city spokesperson also said Raices Brewing owed sales tax and the personal property tax accounted for about 10% of what it owed the city.

“A warrant is only issued after repeated attempts to collect taxes from the business,” the spokesperson said. “It is a last resort that we have sought to avoid for nearly a year in this case.”

New Whole Foods Market opens in Parker

There’s a new Whole Foods Market in the metro Denver area.

Whole Foods Market opened a new store in Parker at 8665 Kings Point Way last Thursday. The grocery chain’s newest location is 43,000 square feet in size and features more than 700 products sourced from Colorado, the company said in a press release.

The Austin-based grocer owned by Amazon now has 23 locations in Colorado with the Parker opening.

The new store opened near the intersection of South Parker Road and E-470.

Whole Foods Market said it gave a “low-interest” loan to SAM+LEO, a Denver-based supplier of gummy vitamins, as part of its wider Lending Program to help finance emerging producers and get them to expand.

“As a Parker resident myself, I’m thrilled to help open the first Whole Foods Market location in this wonderful community,” said Karen Breault, Store Team Leader at Whole Foods Market, in a press release. “This store brings together high-quality ingredients, trusted sourcing and a deep connection to local producers. We’re looking forward to becoming part of the everyday rhythm of the Parker community.”

Cheeseburger slider chain sliding into the Colorado market

Small Sliders, a quickly-growing fast food chain, is expanding to Colorado.

The burger joint is dropping off a shipping container or “can” that will be home to the restaurant on Tuesday in Northglenn, a suburb in the north Denver metro area.

The bright orange and 570-square-foot can will be a drive-thru and walk-up restaurant that serves sliders, hand-tossed fries, homemade queso and milkshakes. It will open at 1831 E. 120th Ave.

It will be Small Sliders’ first spot in Colorado and the company said it plans to expand with 10 locations.

Small Sliders was founded in Louisiana and is financially backed by former NFL quarterback Drew Brees. The chain said it aims to shake the “big burger industry,” according to its website. It has locations across Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.

The Northglenn location is set to open in a “few months,” a company spokesperson said.