Mobile Coffee business (Denver, Littleton, Englewood: 2015, home, inspection)

[rob piccillo]

Just wanted to see if anyone had any opinions/ information on operating a mobile coffee truck in Denver, or elsewhere in Colorado. I have owned a mobile coffee truck in Florida for a while now, and would like to summer out in Colorado, but wondered about the "food truck environment" etc. Any opinions or information could be useful , so feel free to opine. Thanks in advance.

[Mach50]

The food truck environment is pretty good, mostly around the more dense areas downtown and around Confluence Park(REI Flagship) as well. I wish we had more honestly.

Dazbog has a coffee truck in my area that I see from time to time for events. Other than that I don't see very many in the summer.

I think you would do better to "Winter up" in Denver for business sake.

[davidv]

I have a former student who had a coffee truck, and it was really tough to make a go of it. He got rid of the truck and opened a "real" coffee shop about 6 month ago.

[Snikt]

Someone needs to set up a coffee truck or something right at the Mineral light rail station. There's tons of people who commute from there I would think you'd make a ton just from people grabbing something on the go.

The Littleton Downtown station has a nice little coffee shop right at the station, but the Mineral station which is like 4 times the size there's nothing right there unless you go into Aspen Grove.

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by Snikt

Someone needs to set up a coffee truck or something right at the Mineral light rail station. There's tons of people who commute from there I would think you'd make a ton just from people grabbing something on the go.

The Littleton Downtown station has a nice little coffee shop right at the station, but the Mineral station which is like 4 times the size there's nothing right there unless you go into Aspen Grove.

They had one down there for the Platte River Half Marathon.

It seems to be an event based business here in Denver probably because most people would just drive their car to a building.

[PBandJam]

Denver is very food truck friendly and we have some great ones. In the summer there is a whole line up of them down at Civic Center and they get very busy. I'd scope out the competition and find a good set up. There are a lot of food carts, small, along 16th Street mall. And the lightrail stations are a good idea.

[PBandJam]

To add, I feel Denver loves its food trucks!

[Timmyy]

I know all the micro breweries love their food trucks.

[rob piccillo]

Appreciate the feedback! Seems like a very positive truck atmosphere which often seems like the most important piece of the puzzle . Without a positive, food truck friendly environment it is almost impossible to make it work. I have a business model that seems to work well ,catering to primarily higher end business parks and am hoping to move beyond "summering" in Colorado to actually leaving hell on earth ( also known as Florida) and making Colorado home .

[Suzatlarge]

Yes, food trucks are a thing, at least in Denver itself. Not sure about the 'burbs.

It's interesting that the answers from locals note that the trucks do well in high-density areas with a lot of foot traffiic, which means Downtown Denver and areas not far from downtown.

But you're talking about "high end business parks." There are several "high end" office parks, but those are in outlying areas, mostly in the suburbs. And they are in my experience not areas with high foot traffic.

Google maps can help you. There's Inverness Business Park in Arapahoe County. The original "high end office park," the Denver Technological Center (DTC) which is partly in Denver and partly in Greenwood Village. To the South of the DTC (and we're really talking suburbia now) is the Meridian Office Park. Google the address 9655 Maroon Cir, Englewood, CO 80112, to locate it on the map (that's one building in the park, and it's not in the City of Englewood, that's just the postal address).

And as you know, different cities/counties may have different licensing/inspection requirements. At least here we have the Tri County Health Dept (Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas) which covers three of the counties adjoining Denver (but not Jefferson County).

I noticed the story above about a coffee cart owner not making it and opening a shop. We really are blessed with coffee shops everywhere. Chains and independents. Seems like there's one on every block these days.

Good luck with your research.