Biz roundup: Vacuum shop says Boulder sucks
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Design Within Reach in Boulder. Photo: Design Within Reach
Boulder's business scene saw major moves this month.
The big picture: From multi-million dollar defense deals to a mom-and-pop operation swearing at an entire city, it's been an interesting summer in Boulder business.
Here's what you may have missed:
🧵 Vacuums R Us & Sewing Too closed its Boulder location at 3005 28th St. after six years, citing online competition and difficult customer interactions.
- In a post announcing the closure, the company — which still operates stores in Arvada and Fort Collins — called Boulder customers "assholes."
- Employees described misogynist and aggressive behavior, writing: "People aren't built to be degraded by strangers day after day, and our Boulder team burned out fast."
🛋️ Design Within Reach opened a new 9,000-square-foot location earlier this summer in the Twenty Ninth Street Mall.
- The modern furniture retailer's second Colorado location offers 3D room renderings, large-scale material swatches and one-on-one design help.
🚀 The U.S. Space Force increased its contract with Broomfield-based Pivotal Space from $7 million to $93 million on July 10, the Denver Business Journal reports.
- The company, which operates under the name Leap, is developing rockets and propulsion systems designed to "move goods anywhere on Earth or in orbit within minutes," according to its website.
💈 Carlos Carreon Hair Studio is opening a second location at 3340 Arapahoe Ave., according to signage.
- An opening date hasn't been given.
⚛️ The Colorado Economic Development Commission approved $4.43 million in tax credits for a company using the code name "Project Laser."
- The company is Atom Computing, and Project Laser will likely land in Boulder, the Denver Post reports.
- That incentive is tied to 225 net new jobs paying an average annual wage of $232,021.
👠 Designer Shoe Warehouse opened a location last week at 2440 Arapahoe Ave.
⛪️ Boulder-based faith AI company Gloo saw its stock price fall nearly 25% last week after the releasing pricing information for an upcoming public offering, according to BizWest.