It takes a village. Aurora has one at La Plaza Colorado
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AURORA, Colo. — The old Kmart parking lot on Colfax is the same, but inside it has become a unique world of shopping, entertainment and food.
Mirroring hugely popular venues for food and fun in Mexico and Latin America, La Plaza Colorado brings the experience home to Aurora.
Live music, the sound of a commanding fountain and friendly chatter fills the vast hall of shops and stalls. People stroll around enjoying the view and the splashing water at the heart of La Plaza. Vendors in what looks like a colonial Spanish village tend to their shops, each one offering something new and usually hand made. Vendors don’t just offer earrings and pet toys, but hundreds of other crafts. Every vendor has a story.
“I feel very happy here,” Maria Madrigal said. She owns Silver Linings in La Plaza. “ I feel a part of a family because these are my people from Mexico and we all get along well. We all help each other as much as we can.”
She has watched as the community come to life since its partial opening on March 29.
The project has been a long time in the making for Doug McMurrain, owner at La Plaza. He’s been working toward opening the market since 2019.
McMurrain points out that plazas like this one are much more than just shopping malls or markets. They’re communities, he says. And Plaza Colorado is the extension of plaza communities he created in Atlanta and Charlotte N.C.
Creating a series of plazas from what was virtually an accident when he started his first one in Atlanta has been a surprise. These villages are a labor of love. The Aurora project is no exception.
Doug said the Aurora project offers 172 mercado stalls, 24 food hall kitchens, a family entertainment center and more on the way to serve the Hispanic community all in one place. The task hasn’t been easy but since its partial opening — it’s slowly coming together.
“It’s a little frustrating, we haven’t finished building,” Doug said, “ we’re not at our full ability yet to serve the community. It’s coming, yeah, but I’m not there yet.”
Despite delays, La Plaza hasn’t gone unnoticed as people continue to come in to see what has been done so far. Doug describes how the weekends have gotten popular as people have come to enjoy live bands playing in an entertainment center. It has started to become a home for people as they come shop and enjoy various aspects of La Plaza that it has to offer so early on.
For Maria, the Plaza has not only been like a home to her, but like a family. Since starting her business, Silver Linings, 15 years ago, there’s not a day where she doesn’t appreciate the community being built at La Plaza. There is something more about the La Plaza than just community, she says, it also comes with an opportunity for the vendors to grow.
“I started my business when I divorced the father of my children and he left us with nothing. The salary that I earned at a job was not enough to pay my bills and support my children.” Maria said.
Maria started her jewelry business out of a pencil box, spending her days meeting clients at their homes in hopes to sell in order to make ends meet. There would be days where Maria would spend her time selling authentic gold jewelry from Mexico at the flea market under the hot summer sun with her two youngest daughters, who would often beg her not to have to go.
Since the opening of La Plaza, Maria has seen her business grow to a point where she now can focus on reselling various jewelry including bracelets, charms and other goods in an environment she describes as “home.”
Similarly, Enma Carvajal, another vendor at La Plaza, who sells eyelashes and children’s clothing, feels the same support for her business, Pink Dreams.
“We have met a lot of people and I feel like it doesn’t stop. There are always new people and new clients that come. Some have come back to visit me and have liked the experience. I feel like, “yes, we are going to keep growing, and we are going to try to put in our part so that this works out,” Enma said.
For Enma, the opportunity to open up her own shop in La Plaza has been like a dream coming to reality, a “Pink Dream.” After spending some time trying out her own ideas and selling at a flea market, helping her aunt with her business, she realized it was time to strike out on her own.
It wasn’t long before she found herself setting up her spot in La Plaza . Now, she’s growing as a vendor. Three months later, she knows that the La Plaza community is going to keep getting bigger.
Every business brings their own story and character to La Plaza, which Doug has fully embraced since opening up these shops. He says the village at La Plaza is “their place,” and he believes that once everything is finished, La Plaza will become a hub for the Hispanic community in Aurora, and the region.
“It’s this place. It’s shopping. It’s food. It’s entertainment,” Doug said. “It’s … yeah, all these things together.”
If you go
La Plaza is at 15200 E Colfax Ave in Aurora. It’s open daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The converted K-Mart store has 24 shipping containers being repurposed for the food hall kitchens and a full service bar. While the restaurants are under construction, there’s a fleet of food trucks outside and an area to eat inside La Plaza. On Sunday’s, La Plaza hosts live bands in the entertainment center. For more information you can visit their facebook page at La Plaza CO or contact them at 720-767-4417.
Shops inside La Plaza include
• Silver Linings - Jewelry
• Pink Dreams - EyeLashes and Children’s Clothing
• Cherry Nails By Danny - Manicures, Pedicures and Nails
• Renegado Boots - Cowboy Boots and Clothing
• Nicho Sport - Sport Jerseys and Clothing
• Angel Scents - Perfume
• Tlamachqui - Custom Hats and Fur Bags
• Moda Varonil - Men’s Casual Wear
• Be You Butic - Womens Shoes
• Craft Corner - Custom Merchandise
The Sentinel Story Sprint is a statewide journalism project. Story Sprint brings students from Colorado State University, Community College of Aurora and Colorado College into the Aurora newsroom to cover local stories, alongside veteran journalists. Funded by a grant from the Colorado Media Project, the Sentinel Story Sprint provides a professional newsroom with emerging journalists, and emerging journalists with a professional newsroom.
The Sentinel Story Sprint is a statewide journalism project. Story Sprint brings students from Colorado State University, Community College of Aurora and Colorado College into the Aurora newsroom to cover local stories, alongside veteran journalists. Funded by a grant from the Colorado Media Project, the Sentinel Story Sprint provides a professional newsroom with emerging journalists, and emerging journalists with a professional newsroom.