COLORADO SPRINGS — Bread and Butter Neighborhood Market is up, running, and already taking in community feedback in order to adapt and best meet the needs of those living and working nearby. The location at 602 N. Nevada in Colorado Springs just opened recently.
The brand new marketplace has been the dream for Aubrey Day and Stacy Poore for years and has taken time, effort, and a considerable number of conversations with neighbors in the area, as well as other small businesses, to see what needed to be a part of the plan.
The pandemic provided some supply chain challenges and delays for the new space; with months of work to get everything up and running the pair along with about a dozen employees finally opened the doors on September 4th, with a grand opening on the 11th.
The creation of the neighborhood market fills a need for the ever-expanding downtown Colorado Springs area.
"Certainly for downtown to have, for the first time in a long time, a viable place to actually go and get groceries, is a major step forward for us," stated Russ Ware, co-owner of Good Neighbors Meeting House, which is running its own small market.
"As more housing and apartments especially are being built downtown, I think this is just a step forward," Ware continued.
Creating and constantly adapting a source of fresh food that is within biking, walking, or quick public transportation distance is part of the passion for both Day and Poore.
"There is a need for food and people deserve to have access to fresh produce and healthy choices and fun sugary choices too if that's what they would like," stated Poore, "but the variety just hasn't been here and so so we want to provide that variety."
The variety and accessibility have the ability to positively impact health, time management, workflow, and more according to the Colorado Springs Food Rescue.
"It affects all things, it affects transportation, it affects time and it also affects what you're bringing into your home to cook," stated Patience Kabwasa, the new executive director of the non-profit organization, "so having a store in your neighborhood is just ideal."
From day one and moving forward, both founders look forward to building relationships with those that regularly come through their doors in order to provide a more relational shopping experience and better provide for those that shop there.
Before the doors to Bread and Butter opened to the public, both Day and Poore were working with the community to figure out what needed to be stocked and what needs to be met.
That process is continuing on a daily basis, with both proprietors on-site daily taking suggestions and recommendations from those coming in.
"You can request something, and it's possible that a couple of days later it could be here," commented Day.
"This is where we started and we can only get better from here," finished Poore.
To learn more about Bread and Butter Neighborhood Market, CLICK HERE.
