Creager Business Depot at 1375 W. 47th Ave. in Sunnyside. (Justin Wingerter/BusinessDen)
A convenience store distributor on the north side is bankrupt and said the city is to blame.
Creager Business Depot, which has been around since 1958, sells groceries, cigarettes “and an endless list” of other goods to small stores, according to its bankruptcy filing. Its 17 employees work out of a warehouse at 1375 W. 47th Ave., in an industrial corner of Sunnyside.
“Cash flow began to suffer in 2023,” company President Donald Creager said in a sworn affidavit earlier this month. He and his wife Mary own the longtime family company.
Last year, Creager Business Depot moved from a warehouse in Globeville to its Sunnyside location. That move caused an unexpected cascade of problems, its owner said.
“The City of Denver Building and Fire Departments delayed contractors and massively inflated the moving budget,” forcing Creager to pay rent at both locations for eight months “due to delays that were not in the company’s control,” Donald Creager claimed.
That led the company to fall behind on its payments to the Colorado Department of Revenue, to which it owes $1.9 million for sales and excise taxes — and has a long history with.
In 2011, Creager Business Depot sued the state agency, accusing it of wrongly taxing blunt wraps. That set off a six-year legal battle over whether those rolling papers are taxable tobacco products. A Denver judge ruled they are, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled they are not and the Colorado Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, decided they definitely were, in 2017.
“Despite the debtor’s efforts,” Creager wrote of his company in his affidavit May 17, “The debtor has been unable to bring its payments to the Colorado Department of Revenue current” and has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy so that it can “reorganize and continue.”
Creager Business Depot has $1.9 million in assets, according to its owner, and owes $4.5 million to its 20 largest creditors. CDOR tops that list. Others on it include Toyota, which is owed $270,000 for a forklift and shelving, and some of the country’s largest food brands, such as Pepsi and Frito Lay. The U.S. Small Business Administration is owed $147,000.
Creager did not answer requests to discuss the city’s effects on his business last week. Spokespeople for the city’s planning and fire departments declined to comment.
The Creager company’s bankruptcy lawyers are Jenny Fujii and Jeffrey Brinen with Kutner Brinen Dickey Riley in Denver, who also did not return requests for comment.
Creager Business Depot at 1375 W. 47th Ave. in Sunnyside. (Justin Wingerter/BusinessDen)
A convenience store distributor on the north side is bankrupt and said the city is to blame.
Creager Business Depot, which has been around since 1958, sells groceries, cigarettes “and an endless list” of other goods to small stores, according to its bankruptcy filing. Its 17 employees work out of a warehouse at 1375 W. 47th Ave., in an industrial corner of Sunnyside.
“Cash flow began to suffer in 2023,” company President Donald Creager said in a sworn affidavit earlier this month. He and his wife Mary own the longtime family company.
Last year, Creager Business Depot moved from a warehouse in Globeville to its Sunnyside location. That move caused an unexpected cascade of problems, its owner said.
“The City of Denver Building and Fire Departments delayed contractors and massively inflated the moving budget,” forcing Creager to pay rent at both locations for eight months “due to delays that were not in the company’s control,” Donald Creager claimed.
That led the company to fall behind on its payments to the Colorado Department of Revenue, to which it owes $1.9 million for sales and excise taxes — and has a long history with.
In 2011, Creager Business Depot sued the state agency, accusing it of wrongly taxing blunt wraps. That set off a six-year legal battle over whether those rolling papers are taxable tobacco products. A Denver judge ruled they are, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled they are not and the Colorado Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, decided they definitely were, in 2017.
“Despite the debtor’s efforts,” Creager wrote of his company in his affidavit May 17, “The debtor has been unable to bring its payments to the Colorado Department of Revenue current” and has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy so that it can “reorganize and continue.”
Creager Business Depot has $1.9 million in assets, according to its owner, and owes $4.5 million to its 20 largest creditors. CDOR tops that list. Others on it include Toyota, which is owed $270,000 for a forklift and shelving, and some of the country’s largest food brands, such as Pepsi and Frito Lay. The U.S. Small Business Administration is owed $147,000.
Creager did not answer requests to discuss the city’s effects on his business last week. Spokespeople for the city’s planning and fire departments declined to comment.
The Creager company’s bankruptcy lawyers are Jenny Fujii and Jeffrey Brinen with Kutner Brinen Dickey Riley in Denver, who also did not return requests for comment.
