A sign outside a Queen City Collective Coffee shop. (Courtesy Queen City)
Queen City Collective Coffee is the latest amenity for downtown Denver offices.
Co-founder Scott Byington said the coffee shop is opening in the lobbies of the office buildings at 1675 Larimer St. and 1899 Wynkoop St. He said both property owners funded the roughly 1,000-square-foot buildout.
“They want to see their buildings do well,” Byington said. “They’re willing to take a risk in building these spaces, and we’re coming alongside them and saying we’re willing to take that gamble with you and be the amenity.”
Byington said that opening in office building lobbies is more economical for a small business than solo, standalone spaces. He also believes that post-pandemic consumers are favoring local businesses over national chains.
“Starbucks could go into any corporate office building … but is that going to make it special and unique? Probably not,” Byington said. “But if you throw in an independent, local coffee shop, something that adds a little bit of flair, a little culture, a genuine connection to that place, that’s where we see opportunity coming out of COVID.”
Queen City was represented by NAI Shames Makovsky broker Levi Noe in both deals.
From left to right: Luke, Eric and Scott Byington
Scott, 37, founded Queen City as a roastery in 2016 with brothers Luke, 32, and Eric, 39. In 2018, the trio opened their first retail location with Novel Strand Brewing Company in Baker. They now have three other shops in Five Points, Wheat Ridge and Broomfield.
Before starting the business, Scott and Eric lived in southern and central Africa. While there, Scott decided to get his master’s degree in rural sociology, and found himself working alongside coffee farmers. While Scott had connections to coffee farmers, Luke had experience roasting and Eric had an MBA.
“We talked about creating a company that was sourcing directly from farmers that we have relationships with, but with a heavy focus on quality, craft coffee,” Scott Byington said.
As Colorado natives, they decided to name the company after Denver’s old nickname, Queen City of the Plains.
“We’re Colorado boys that stuck around Colorado and we really do want to continue to build a unique culture for Denver,” Byington said.
Byington said Queen City sources its beans from farmers in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvado, Nicaragua, Columbia, Peru, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Kenya. QR codes on each bag detail where the beans came from, when they were picked and imported, and how much the farmers and importers were paid.
“Everybody claims relationship coffee, sustainable coffee, but they’re not backing up those claims with verified data,” he said. “We’re trying to move toward the place of full transparency, verifying everything.”
A sign outside a Queen City Collective Coffee shop. (Courtesy Queen City)
Queen City Collective Coffee is the latest amenity for downtown Denver offices.
Co-founder Scott Byington said the coffee shop is opening in the lobbies of the office buildings at 1675 Larimer St. and 1899 Wynkoop St. He said both property owners funded the roughly 1,000-square-foot buildout.
“They want to see their buildings do well,” Byington said. “They’re willing to take a risk in building these spaces, and we’re coming alongside them and saying we’re willing to take that gamble with you and be the amenity.”
Byington said that opening in office building lobbies is more economical for a small business than solo, standalone spaces. He also believes that post-pandemic consumers are favoring local businesses over national chains.
“Starbucks could go into any corporate office building … but is that going to make it special and unique? Probably not,” Byington said. “But if you throw in an independent, local coffee shop, something that adds a little bit of flair, a little culture, a genuine connection to that place, that’s where we see opportunity coming out of COVID.”
Queen City was represented by NAI Shames Makovsky broker Levi Noe in both deals.
From left to right: Luke, Eric and Scott Byington
Scott, 37, founded Queen City as a roastery in 2016 with brothers Luke, 32, and Eric, 39. In 2018, the trio opened their first retail location with Novel Strand Brewing Company in Baker. They now have three other shops in Five Points, Wheat Ridge and Broomfield.
Before starting the business, Scott and Eric lived in southern and central Africa. While there, Scott decided to get his master’s degree in rural sociology, and found himself working alongside coffee farmers. While Scott had connections to coffee farmers, Luke had experience roasting and Eric had an MBA.
“We talked about creating a company that was sourcing directly from farmers that we have relationships with, but with a heavy focus on quality, craft coffee,” Scott Byington said.
As Colorado natives, they decided to name the company after Denver’s old nickname, Queen City of the Plains.
“We’re Colorado boys that stuck around Colorado and we really do want to continue to build a unique culture for Denver,” Byington said.
Byington said Queen City sources its beans from farmers in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvado, Nicaragua, Columbia, Peru, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Kenya. QR codes on each bag detail where the beans came from, when they were picked and imported, and how much the farmers and importers were paid.
“Everybody claims relationship coffee, sustainable coffee, but they’re not backing up those claims with verified data,” he said. “We’re trying to move toward the place of full transparency, verifying everything.”
