The 320 Fillmore building, seen here on Jan. 17, 2024, will be completed this quarter. (Maia Luem/BusinessDen)
Change is a constant in Terri Garbarini’s world.
“Fashion is about change – every season you get an entirely new inventory,” the owner of a high-end Cherry Creek fashion store said. “You are constantly rebirthing. We like change.”
She said moving her decades-old store, which is also named Garbarini, after selling her building at 239 Detroit St. over a year ago is just another exciting change.
“It’s kind of inspiring to have a new space to move into … It’s kind of energizing,” Garbarini said.
The women’s boutique will move about a five-minute walk away to 320 Fillmore St., where a four-story, 60,000-square-foot office building is wrapping up construction. The structure will have 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space — 6,000 of which is going to Garbarini. Zall Co. brokers Stuart Zall, Stacey Glenn and Kyle Framson marketed the space.
It’s one of a number of leases signed at the building developed by Chicago-based Midwest Property Group. The building’s office space is fully leased to three tenants, according to JLL broker Jamie Roupp, who represented the landlord. One tenant is Cobbs Allen Capital. Another is venture capital firm Konvoy, which took 5,000 square feet and was represented by Kentwood Commercial broker Solveig Lawrence.
Garbarini, 67, started her business in 1985 in Larimer Square as a high-end shoe store because she needed a job after graduating college.
“That’s how naive I was,” she laughed, noting she’d worked at a boutique while in school. “I didn’t want to interview for a job so I opened my own store.”
Garbarini eventually became a full clothing boutique, selling all sorts of high-end items, including accessories such as sunglasses and handbags. Over the years, Garbarini added locations in Boulder and Cherry Creek before consolidating to the one spot in Cherry Creek over 20 years ago.
She bought her store’s real estate on Detroit Street in 2013 for $5.2 million, records show. In 2022, she sold the building for $11 million when a Dallas-based developer made an offer she couldn’t refuse.
The developer, who has proposed an apartment project, allowed Garbarini to lease back the space for a time. Searching for a spot to relocate wasn’t easy, she said, given she wanted to stay in Cherry Creek.
“Cherry Creek has literally been the little upscale enclave and no one has ever tried to compete with it,” she said. “It’s really super competitive. Everybody wants to be here and now you have the nationals coming in.”
Garbarini, a Colorado native, said she remembers when parking in Cherry Creek was free, and 1st Avenue housed only Sears, a parking lot and Sears Automotive. Now, she said Cherry Creek’s retail scene has more than doubled.
She said her clothing store survived 9/11, when people stopped shopping, as well as the Great Recession in 2008 and, most recently, the pandemic. Being savvy in the face of high operating costs is just the latest challenge, she said.
“I’m on the hook now for more expenses but I have a mature business and we’re pretty stable,” Garbarini said. “So far there hasn’t been anything that we weren’t able to overcome. That doesn’t mean there won’t be – we haven’t had a zombie apocalypse yet. We’re waiting for that.”
Garbarini said she’s drawn to fashion because it’s a way for people to express themselves, and shopping brings people joy.
“When you buy things, it’s like you’re buying a collection, your closet is your collection of things you love,” she said. “It’s fun to find your treasures … and it’s therapeutic.”
BusinessDen staffer Thomas Gounley contributed reporting.
The 320 Fillmore building, seen here on Jan. 17, 2024, will be completed this quarter. (Maia Luem/BusinessDen)
Change is a constant in Terri Garbarini’s world.
“Fashion is about change – every season you get an entirely new inventory,” the owner of a high-end Cherry Creek fashion store said. “You are constantly rebirthing. We like change.”
She said moving her decades-old store, which is also named Garbarini, after selling her building at 239 Detroit St. over a year ago is just another exciting change.
“It’s kind of inspiring to have a new space to move into … It’s kind of energizing,” Garbarini said.
The women’s boutique will move about a five-minute walk away to 320 Fillmore St., where a four-story, 60,000-square-foot office building is wrapping up construction. The structure will have 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space — 6,000 of which is going to Garbarini. Zall Co. brokers Stuart Zall, Stacey Glenn and Kyle Framson marketed the space.
It’s one of a number of leases signed at the building developed by Chicago-based Midwest Property Group. The building’s office space is fully leased to three tenants, according to JLL broker Jamie Roupp, who represented the landlord. One tenant is Cobbs Allen Capital. Another is venture capital firm Konvoy, which took 5,000 square feet and was represented by Kentwood Commercial broker Solveig Lawrence.
Garbarini, 67, started her business in 1985 in Larimer Square as a high-end shoe store because she needed a job after graduating college.
“That’s how naive I was,” she laughed, noting she’d worked at a boutique while in school. “I didn’t want to interview for a job so I opened my own store.”
Garbarini eventually became a full clothing boutique, selling all sorts of high-end items, including accessories such as sunglasses and handbags. Over the years, Garbarini added locations in Boulder and Cherry Creek before consolidating to the one spot in Cherry Creek over 20 years ago.
She bought her store’s real estate on Detroit Street in 2013 for $5.2 million, records show. In 2022, she sold the building for $11 million when a Dallas-based developer made an offer she couldn’t refuse.
The developer, who has proposed an apartment project, allowed Garbarini to lease back the space for a time. Searching for a spot to relocate wasn’t easy, she said, given she wanted to stay in Cherry Creek.
“Cherry Creek has literally been the little upscale enclave and no one has ever tried to compete with it,” she said. “It’s really super competitive. Everybody wants to be here and now you have the nationals coming in.”
Garbarini, a Colorado native, said she remembers when parking in Cherry Creek was free, and 1st Avenue housed only Sears, a parking lot and Sears Automotive. Now, she said Cherry Creek’s retail scene has more than doubled.
She said her clothing store survived 9/11, when people stopped shopping, as well as the Great Recession in 2008 and, most recently, the pandemic. Being savvy in the face of high operating costs is just the latest challenge, she said.
“I’m on the hook now for more expenses but I have a mature business and we’re pretty stable,” Garbarini said. “So far there hasn’t been anything that we weren’t able to overcome. That doesn’t mean there won’t be – we haven’t had a zombie apocalypse yet. We’re waiting for that.”
Garbarini said she’s drawn to fashion because it’s a way for people to express themselves, and shopping brings people joy.
“When you buy things, it’s like you’re buying a collection, your closet is your collection of things you love,” she said. “It’s fun to find your treasures … and it’s therapeutic.”
BusinessDen staffer Thomas Gounley contributed reporting.
