Denver entrepreneur opens community marketplace for small businesses in RiNo

Green Spaces Market founder Jevon Taylor in front of artwork at Green Spaces on opening day, April 1, 2023. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)

Businessman and environmentalist Jevon Taylor is part of a coalition working to green Denver’s Five Points neighborhood by adding trees, plants and open spaces. Now he’s nurturing entrepreneurs and artists with a new marketplace aimed at growing local businesses.

Taylor opened Green Space’s market in April in the River North Art District section of Five Points to serve as a springboard of sorts for small businesses in the area. He bought the Green Spaces coworking business and built a block down from his former clothing store in 2021, turning part of the 13,000-square-foot space into a marketplace and business incubator of sorts.

“I want to make it more of a community hub instead of just a coworking space,” Taylor said.

As new shops and restaurants open in the growing business district and new apartment buildings spring up, Taylor wants to make sure local artists and business people have a place in the community.

“Because of affordability issues in the district and the city as a whole, it’s hard for small businesses to be prominent in shopping districts. I wanted to give them an opportunity, make Green Spaces a launch pad,” said Taylor, a member of RiNo’s business improvement board.

Some of the 11 vendors and five artists who have moved into the space at 2590 Walnut St. were featured in Taylor’s former clothing store, False Ego.

Taylor said the businesses sell everything from exotic snacks to flowers, plants, candles, jewelry, cologne and clothing. Many of them emphasize using environmentally sustainable materials and methods. The building uses solar energy.

When fully leased, the market will house 20 vendors. A coffee shop and bar is scheduled to open in June.

“This has allowed me to do what I was already doing and gives me a lot more square footage to get all my ideas out there,” Taylor said.

“Green Spaces is an incredible resource in our community that expands opportunities and increases visibility for small businesses, nonprofits and local artists in the District,” Charity Von Guinness, executive director of the RiNo Art District, said in a statement.

Kimberlee Ward sold some of her handmade candles at Taylor’s former store. “It gave me the confidence to be here and create community in a space where small businesses have kind of been pushed out,” she said.

Ward began Eternal balance light co. in 2019. To deal with depression, she began meditating and using candles to “deepen the practice” and turned it into a business after deciding to leave her job in higher education.

“All of my candles are made from soy wax, which is biodegradable,” Ward said. “I use lead-free cotton wicks.”

Ward said her fragrance oils do not contain certain preservatives or chemicals that have had negative health effects in some clinical trials. Her fragrance names include Royalty (amber and lavender) and Tranquility (eucalyptus, bergamot and tea tree).

Not far from Ward’s place is one rented by Anthony Tori, whose business Theo and Amelia, uses scents to tell the story of his travels. A cologne called Uzzano includes bergamot, orange and grapefruit in a scent that evokes for Tori the northern Italian village where his grandfather grew up growing citrus crops.

“Travel is a really big part of my life. I started making scents to help remember where I had gone,” said Tori.

After selling her products online, Tori wanted to open a store. He said Green Spaces is affordable while also giving him a chance to be with other entrepreneurs.

Rachel Kois started Simple switch four years ago in an effort to offer alternatives to shopping on Amazon. Her offerings range from food to clothing, household items and fitness products. People can act based on their social and environmental considerations. The product exhibition at Green Spaces marks the company’s first physical location.

“For us, this space is kind of a way for people to touch and feel products and get an idea of ​​what we do,” Kois said.

Being at Green Spaces also gives Kois a place to host events with partners. And she said she supports “the mission that Jevon has.”

In a nearby section, Dalton Bidula has a display of the coats and hats he creates for his company Law Designs. The coats have replaceable patches to give the garment a new look.

Bidula, who started her design company about a year and a half ago, had been selling exclusively online. He said he met Taylor and “fell in love with the idea” of a community marketplace that is more economical for startups like his.

“With the high rents in RiNo, it just creates a hardship for a small business to enter the retail market here,” Bidula said.

Green Spaces is the third location for the company It’s a Bodega, owned by KC Christian. The store specializes in exotic snacks imported from around the world.

“The focus is on brands that we have here in America, but flavors that don’t exist in America,” Christian said.

One item not available at the neighborhood King Soopers or Safeway are Burger King Flame Grilled Whopper-flavored Doritos or potato chips that taste like chili fried chicken.