The Durango Toy Depot and Giddy-Up 409, a clothing store, in the 600 block of Main Avenue closed late last week.
“We hate it when any business goes away,” said Tim Walsworth, executive director of the Business Improvement District.
The closures came after the most successful July for the central business district since at least 2010.
“We’ve just had our biggest month ever,” Walsworth said.
The city collected $777,195 from the central business district in sales taxes for July, which is 2.7 percent more than last July, he said.
General city sales tax collections across the whole city in July also increased 3.5 percent over the same period up to about $1.47 million.
However, just because sales in general are up, doesn’t mean that every business stays open, he said.
“Every business has a story behind it,” he said.
Walsworth could not say why the Toy Depot and Giddy-Up 409 closed.
Toy Depot owner Betty Heuss declined to comment and the store’s website was largely blank. The owner of Giddy-Up 409 was listed as Daniel Hackett on the Colorado Secretary of State’s website; he could not be reached for comment.
Not counting Giddy-Up 409, the vacancy rate downtown is about 3.2 percent, Walsworth said.
Store fronts tend to stay vacant for a few months before something else moves in, he said.
The space formerly home to the Lost Dog Bar and Lounge in the 1100 block of Main Avenue has been closed for more than a year, making it one of the longest-running empty spaces, he said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
