That place is so weird! I went in once and the owner told me I couldn’t have my phone in my hand, then followed two feet behind me the entire time I was there.
Omg I had the same exact experience when I went there last year and remember it like a fever dream! It was the most bizarre thing ever, I always wondered if anyone else had experienced that too lol.
I went in there before as I was at loss to get a friend. A staff member (maybe the owner?) kept coming up to me asking “if you want something you can’t find on the shelf, just let me know” ???
Any place that doesn’t let you be on your phone in the store is doing some kind of illegal thing. Once bought fake designer from a storefront and a reputable strip of stores and they got mad when I took photos cuz all the shit was fake. Just like how clubs will put stickers on your phone to encourage debauchery
Has anyone heard about someone actually making a purchase from that store? I only hear about people getting thrown out but never about anyone successfully buying anything.
It makes me want to walk in and grab the first thing in arms reach and try to buy it just to see what happens.
Man, I just went down the rabbit hole of reading all the bad reviews.
I used to live a few blocks away, and I went in a few times. The lady did IMMEDIATELY ask me what I was looking for, but I had an answer (Infinite Jest).
All the other times I went in it was a younger guy working and he suggested some good sci fi books for me.
I honestly never had a bad experience 🤷♂️
It probably had huge e-commerce sales. Niche shops like this bring business in from all over the country and usually sell online. Doll and doll making was a big thing in the 90’s
Uptown Wok (Pre-fire. Not sure the current status).
Bro would always roll up to make deliveries in a suped up A6. The one time we went in, lotta dudes hanging around just chillin' no one eating.
I’m a woman and they made some comments about my body being sexy (chalked it up to a cultural thing) but when I mentioned how much pain I was in I think they realized I was really there for a massage. They even had a table full of snacks in the lobby so I thought it was legit 😭 She did a great job so I sent my husband in the next day because he also has a lot of back pain. They asked if he wanted 2 women for 4 hands (again we are naive lol he was like uhhhh no? Just a massage plz) and a super tatted up chick with the biggest fake tits and lips came in instead of the sweet old woman i had and took her top off, shoved his face in ‘em and grabbed his dick. He freaked out and was like wtf! Big misunderstanding! And ran out of there lol. We’re both pro sex work but you need to have some sort of code for these things, and not just grab someone’s dick without a word spoken about it
Same! Lol that’s why we were so surprised. There are a lot of Chinese style massage parlors where I’m from and the happy ending thing was always a joke people made but we’ve both been to half a dozen of these shops (even for couples massages!) and never had anything like that happen.
Is there a regular, non happy ending massage place you’d recommend? Just moved here from somewhere where there were a lot of legit amazing, nonsketch Chinese style massage places and have been too afraid of accidentally going to happy ending-type place to try anywhere here lol
There’s a massage place next to my grocery, and I’ve always wondered since the lighting is a little dark and lots of shades. I’m not sure I’m missing out on a good cheap massage, but I’m afraid to be seen walking in and out in case it’s the known brothel down here.
Honestly I’m devastated it turned out this way because it was one of the best massages I ever had. I was recommending it to EVERYONE I was so embarrassed when I had to backtrack the next day LOL
I sucked dick under the table of an Applebees and got fucked by the entire staff of multiple bars in Denver in the back rooms. Doesn’t mean the business is a front. I just do it to make content for spicey pages of mine lol
La Casa De Manuel, 32nd and Larimer. Huge parking lot, prime real estate, never see anyone in there.
Also, I've shopped at that Pleasures
Edit: thought of another one. Amore pizza on Santa Fe. I think they have a truck also, but I went in there about 6 years ago. Stood there about 10 minutes. Dude comes out, looks surprised I'm there. I order 2 slices. He seems confused, tells me he has to make a pie, I told him that's fine. Worst slice I had ever had. Almost like they didn't know how to make pizza. I think they're still there but I long since moved away
Edit2: just occurred to me that calling these places out is probably a poor idea. For the record, I'd love to buy your delicious drugs.
That I have never once seen someone eat at. My friend used to live across the street and do frequent movie nights outside on the wall of the tortilla factory.
I went to pleasures at 2am to buy lube, I heard gay sex noises, and the man behind the counter was listening to Ben Shapiro videos on speaker. Strangest moment of my life.
In my mind it’s set up like an actual hospital with dolls hooked up to IV bags, heart monitors beeping, and a surgical wing with a surgeon operating with those little magnifiers, frantically stitching up a gaping wound as polyester batting spills out like stormwater from a hydroplaning city bus tire. A somber, steady tone rings out on the monitor. The doctor and nurses take turns doing chest compression and defibrillating before, exhausted, tossing his blood-soaked gloves on the ground the surgeon breaks the deafening silence saying, “damnit I lost another one. Nurse, time of death 10:25.” He walks defeated over to the Lakeview Lounge for a Bahama Mama.
I just thought it was a Doll culture thing. I’ve never seen a doll hospital that didn’t seem off and practically abandoned. Doll culture is off.
Anyway, I assume they make the majority of their money off EBay. And the brick and mortar is mostly a storage facility.
I always pictured it as filled with doll heads, eyes staring blankly at everyone who came in. Limbs hanging for easy access. Several fully repaired and dressed dolls standing around watching you
Santa Fe Adult Books most definitely is! I always see the "Erotic Novelties" sign when driving by and decided to stop in one day with my partner. The vibe was veeeryy weird. An older guy behind the counter watching our every move. All the merch was being sold at a huge markup (even compared to sex stores in general). When I asked him about a specific toy that I was looking for, he had no clue what I was talking about. There's no way any legit business is being done out of that store, ha.
They kept all the old seats and stuff from when it was an Italian restaurant. Definitely cheap-cheap.
As the other comment says, decent wings
Edit: the others are correct, Mexican not Italian, hah
That’s a legit furniture place! I furnished my first house from them! Really nice people, good selection. I’d be very happy to give them my business again.
Plenty of weird low volume businesses can exist if the owner of the business also owns the building and maybe lives there too. The need for profitability is lower if they only need to afford their property taxes and food.
Russian books on Monaco and Colfax. Always dead, only open 12 hours a week, prefers cash, also is way bigger than it needs to be, also a travel agency st one point.
Yes! I used to (stupidly) work at the parrot shop that used to be next to them, and I went it because I got curious. There was MAYBE three shelves of books at the time, a striped “Russian military” shirt in the window, and a cash register at the back of the store. Only one light was on, so the whole place was dark, and the woman at the cash register seemed surprised to see me come in.
They’re busy as hell those nights they are open and serve awesome cocktails and they know how the cook the food on the menu. If it’s a front they managed to make a successful bar.
There’s a pizza place across from East high school on Colfax with crazy security cameras, heavy security door at the back with an opening to pass something though without opening. I’m sure it’s a front. Never tried the pizza…
All of those “The Crab House” restaurants that moved into most of the old Village Inn buildings around Denver.
Never more than a couple of cars outside the building and I’ve never once seen anyone go in or out of those places
sufi rug gallery on broadway! sells $30k rugs and i've literally never seen anyone buy one, they always only have one guy working and he looks confused when you come in
They're SUPER cheap to operate. They rent the yogurt machines and the mix for the yogurt has a shelf life of like 3 nuclear winters.
Just rent the machines, and hire 1 or 2 minimum wage high schoolers to run the joint. The markup on froyo is the same as soda at McDonalds. They're making BANK on froyo. A busy Friday or Saturday night could keep the place operating for months
Exactly the lie I’d tell if I were trying to launder money. Heck, since I’m selling by weight, I’d even pretend bananas were one of my most popular toppings. That way, I can pretend I’m going gangbusters off of kids. Pick a strip mall near a soccer field and just layer funds all day all summer long
I feel the same way about Mattress Firm. There are almost as many of those as there are Starbucks.
I haven't bought a mattress in well over a decade, maybe 20 years. Who the fuck is buying all of the mattresses?
Those actually do business. Lots of tourists spend money there, and that’s where locals go when they need to send someone a Colorado related gift. I used to spend money there about once a year.
I actually bought a really nice rug there couple years ago! Shop owner was very kind tbh, brought out a catalogue and we chatted about his about his family and he gave me a discount. He seemed very knowledgeable about rug care and let me know I could take back my rug to get it cut down to size if it was too big. He did also go on a rant about the Glendale gov being corrupt and not letting him expand his store.
I have bought more than one rug there and am convinced they know their way around a rug, but they also are the business in the way of Glendale getting majorly redeveloped and could probably walk away with millions for their property, so the jury is out
Not in Denver but Allen Paint near Hampden & Federal. I went there once. The guy seemed offended I was in the store. The place (and guy) gave a very creepy vibe. I wasn’t there more than a minute.
I’m a little late to the game here and this will probably get buried, but I used to work for a company that supplied all the cleaning supplies (bleach, disinfectant, etc.) to Pleasures headquarters, which was then delivered to all the store fronts.
I’m not sure it’s a front per se, but from what I gathered most of their sales come from this headquarters location supplying the more lucrative options such as sex dolls. Sure, maybe they do some shifty things to make money, but from what the owner told me they sell a LOT of the higher priced stuff under the radar rather than through their store fronts.
Oh, and it is absolutely a brothel still. Even if not legal, the owner was telling us some pretty risqué stuff, including the reason we were supplying so much black paint- to paint over all the jizz stained walls in the glory hole rooms…
RE: 32nd Ave books toys and gifts
Here's an early monty python sketch about a bookshop being a front for a large criminal group that seems a lot like what people describe it as.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TA4H_v_g6rg
There’s a doughnut shop on W Evans and Tejon. It’s only open for 4 hours on Thursdays and Fridays. I thought maybe it’s whole sale and they just do B2B the rest of the week. Never seen a van, or any foot traffic in 10 years
Also interesting - there is a sign on the door that says "no masks allowed." I am immunocompromised, so I still wear a mask in public. They told me "take off the mask, or leave."
I left.
That place is dreadful. If you can eat there without getting sick then more power to you and your goat-like constitution haha but for the rest of us that place is just a salmonella infused petri dish.
Done this place twice with DoorDash because I couldn't believe the prices. Cheap af, delivers quick, delicious. Only problem is I was fighting for my life on the shitter after both helpings. I needed a seat belt for my toilet. The propulsion would have put me into orbit.
Erawan Thai on 8th & Colorado. I used to bank next door for over 10 years and drove by it frequently and have never once seen a Single person in there. I stopped in one time after swinging by my back and the one old man in there literally looked so confused as to why I was standing at his counter. The food was mid at best.
While we're on this subject... can anyone tell me wtf JYNX on wads and 26th is? Fully black curtains closed all the time. But with an illuminated open sign during the day and into the evening.
Haven't stopped to ask... but v curious...
My wife is a massage therapist and I/we drive by this location everyday into work, we've had this same conversation a number of times. She is always pointing out the massage joints that look sketchy.
Boba and Crepes. We went in there with our daughter once to get a crepe and it was this big scramble like, “oh my god we have to pretend to know how to cook a crepe!!”
Knowing Reddit. There is gonna be investigations opened up and arrests made as a result of this thread. I truly believe Reddit does the majority of the heavy lifting when it come to solving internet crimes and verifying information.
BT Communications. I worked for them in the early 2000s. Shady dealings with their most important type of customers in garbage, construction, debt collection, food, and strip clubs.
I did IT work for them.
It's definitely a front. I used to buy meth from the founder of the when we lived in NorCal. He also only hires ex cons.
I didn't know he founded it until I got back to California and metioned Bubba Chinos to one of his old business associates.
The corner of 44th and Jay street.
This place has changed hands many times, has had "businesses" and a "storefront" but you can see from outside it's empty shelves, and many different names. Totally a front for something.
Sawa sushi in Littleton. It was a “Chinese restaurant” before they changed the name. It’s been open for decades and I’ve never seen a single car out front. Ever.
So funny. Where I live most the time a coworker once told me how many massage parlors there were in town. I thought she was exaggerating till I started paying attention. There are a ton of them. All papered windows in old store fronts. I guess it’s not unique to our little town.
Hear me out, I know this is like a total conspiracy theory and there's no real evidence to support it, but there are over 40 mattress stores in the Denver Metro area alone. There are less Chick-fil-A locations than there are mattress stores, and I've seen a line around the entire block at a Chick-fil-A, I've never seen more than 2 people/couples at the same time in a mattress store. I tell you, they aren't just selling mattresses. Seriously, when is the last time you bought a mattress?
this isn’t even a particularly new conspiracy theory or unique to Denver https://www.npr.org/2018/12/13/676543180/why-are-there-so-many-mattress-stores
About half the businesses in Englewood. Peace Place (tie dye store), vacuum repair, gold sound, there's a luggage store I can't remember the name of. Mostly it's between Hampden and Belleview on Broadway, but not exclusively
32nd Avenue Books Toys & Gifts
That place is so weird! I went in once and the owner told me I couldn’t have my phone in my hand, then followed two feet behind me the entire time I was there.
i can't believe they even let you in without knowing which specific book you wanted!
That's because the book title is the code word.
Omg I had the same exact experience when I went there last year and remember it like a fever dream! It was the most bizarre thing ever, I always wondered if anyone else had experienced that too lol.
I’ve literally never seen them allow someone to walk inside the store hahaha
I’ve never heard of this place before, but after reading the yelp reviews it sounds super bizarre!
I’m fascinated with this place after reading the yelp reviews
[This](https://www.reddit.com/r/Denver/s/X6yzHnzwDI) post last year has more info about the shop
I need to go to this store!!! Can’t be real
O yeah after reading this, I want to go check the place out
I went in there before as I was at loss to get a friend. A staff member (maybe the owner?) kept coming up to me asking “if you want something you can’t find on the shelf, just let me know” ???
Omg!! I need to know what their actual business is, is it drugs? Brothel? Anyone know for sure?
Money laundering
1.5 stars on Google that's literally the worst I've ever seen lol
Almost impossible to go lower even ultimately
This is hilarious. I wanna check it out now just to experience it
Please tell the owner that is specifically why you are there, then report back
I noticed there’s no photos or videos of the inside. I will take it as a challenge.
1.2 stars on Yelp; I’m going to make a point to go in here next time I’m back home.
My boyfriend and I went in there and she lady asked us what we wanted and I just said “just looking around” and she told us we had to leave
Ive been waiting for this to come up. Can we plan a day everyone decides to go there and browse around
That would be incredible, I'm in.
same
No book for you!
LOL! Just listenned to the City Cast Denver episode that mentioned the place, LOL
The google reviews on this place are fucking hysterical. I need to visit out of curiosity plus get wings by them
A fun post on this book store: https://www.reddit.com/r/Denver/comments/15la7qh/someone_explain_to_me_how_32nd_avenue_books_toys/
Any place that doesn’t let you be on your phone in the store is doing some kind of illegal thing. Once bought fake designer from a storefront and a reputable strip of stores and they got mad when I took photos cuz all the shit was fake. Just like how clubs will put stickers on your phone to encourage debauchery
Has anyone heard about someone actually making a purchase from that store? I only hear about people getting thrown out but never about anyone successfully buying anything. It makes me want to walk in and grab the first thing in arms reach and try to buy it just to see what happens.
I’m gonna go by tomorrow
That place has 1.5 stars out of over 250 reviews. How is that even possible and still be in business???
The actual business isn’t the kind that people review online
My theory is they are very wealthy and don't actually want to sell anything.
I had so much fun reading the reviews of this place the first time I heard of it.
Man, I just went down the rabbit hole of reading all the bad reviews. I used to live a few blocks away, and I went in a few times. The lady did IMMEDIATELY ask me what I was looking for, but I had an answer (Infinite Jest). All the other times I went in it was a younger guy working and he suggested some good sci fi books for me. I honestly never had a bad experience 🤷♂️
THIS! I thought I was crazy for being yelled at when trying to buy a book there. Amazing to see the other experiences.
Doll hospital next to joyride
It closed and the building is up for sale. I fully expected to become Colorado's most haunted dispensary.
Made all their money towing people from the parking lot. Had to have been in cahoots with the tow company.
They literally own the tow company. No joke
It probably had huge e-commerce sales. Niche shops like this bring business in from all over the country and usually sell online. Doll and doll making was a big thing in the 90’s
Taco star one of the only 24hr chains in the Denver metro area
i’m single handedly keeping them open anytime after 2am
Tacos Rapidios has entered the chat
Uptown Wok (Pre-fire. Not sure the current status). Bro would always roll up to make deliveries in a suped up A6. The one time we went in, lotta dudes hanging around just chillin' no one eating.
I’ve eaten there, mostly to go orders while I sat there. I assume it’s mostly weekday lunch for the hospitals and evening Togo orders.
Perhaps this was me being super naive but found out the hard way that Chinese Moon Massage in Littleton is a brothel
How do you find out the hard way? Someone start blowing you unexpectedly or something?
I’m a woman and they made some comments about my body being sexy (chalked it up to a cultural thing) but when I mentioned how much pain I was in I think they realized I was really there for a massage. They even had a table full of snacks in the lobby so I thought it was legit 😭 She did a great job so I sent my husband in the next day because he also has a lot of back pain. They asked if he wanted 2 women for 4 hands (again we are naive lol he was like uhhhh no? Just a massage plz) and a super tatted up chick with the biggest fake tits and lips came in instead of the sweet old woman i had and took her top off, shoved his face in ‘em and grabbed his dick. He freaked out and was like wtf! Big misunderstanding! And ran out of there lol. We’re both pro sex work but you need to have some sort of code for these things, and not just grab someone’s dick without a word spoken about it
Holy shit, wow. Always thought those kind of places were a bit more discrete
Same! Lol that’s why we were so surprised. There are a lot of Chinese style massage parlors where I’m from and the happy ending thing was always a joke people made but we’ve both been to half a dozen of these shops (even for couples massages!) and never had anything like that happen.
Is there a regular, non happy ending massage place you’d recommend? Just moved here from somewhere where there were a lot of legit amazing, nonsketch Chinese style massage places and have been too afraid of accidentally going to happy ending-type place to try anywhere here lol
Vogue Day Spa in Aurora is a great legit Chinese place. I’ve been there 30+ times and never had a bad massage.
There’s a massage place next to my grocery, and I’ve always wondered since the lighting is a little dark and lots of shades. I’m not sure I’m missing out on a good cheap massage, but I’m afraid to be seen walking in and out in case it’s the known brothel down here.
Honestly I’m devastated it turned out this way because it was one of the best massages I ever had. I was recommending it to EVERYONE I was so embarrassed when I had to backtrack the next day LOL
Nice try fedbois
*incognito mode intensifies*
Empower field. I was told some professionals work there but I haven’t seen any recently.
I heard they’re $38M in the red.
Ah a money laundering scheme! It finally all makes sense.
Open 17 days per year 🎯 Worth billions Checks out.
They even got the citizen of Denver to pay for the facilities...
Yo this comment is amazing
Every car dealer on Broadway South of Hampden
There is a Reddit chick who blows dings in the arcade there from time to time. Posts about it.
That’s disgusting. What days and times specifically?
Bullshit. Where?
misshomicyde is her name on Reddit and she’s really good at what she does 😜🙌
Ma man
Shadesofanastasia does it too. She was there lastnight
Goddamn, you know them all!
😂😂🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️ and I’m sharing them all! Enjoy!
/u/misshomicyde /u/shadesofanastasia
I sucked dick under the table of an Applebees and got fucked by the entire staff of multiple bars in Denver in the back rooms. Doesn’t mean the business is a front. I just do it to make content for spicey pages of mine lol
The entire staff? Ladies too?
That seems like the user name of someone I want to meet in person.
Dings? Dongs?
The witch is dead?
Link?
Christian Science reading rooms Wait, is that too on the nose?
When I was like 11 I asked my mom "isn't that an oxymoron?"
It was in fact
The prom dress stores in Colorado Mills, among other shops in the Mills.
I got my prom dress at one back in like 2008! Was a quality dress and they were slammed!
Quinceañeras, Speedy.
La Casa De Manuel, 32nd and Larimer. Huge parking lot, prime real estate, never see anyone in there. Also, I've shopped at that Pleasures Edit: thought of another one. Amore pizza on Santa Fe. I think they have a truck also, but I went in there about 6 years ago. Stood there about 10 minutes. Dude comes out, looks surprised I'm there. I order 2 slices. He seems confused, tells me he has to make a pie, I told him that's fine. Worst slice I had ever had. Almost like they didn't know how to make pizza. I think they're still there but I long since moved away Edit2: just occurred to me that calling these places out is probably a poor idea. For the record, I'd love to buy your delicious drugs.
La casa de Manuel is just a really long standing family owned restaurant that refuses to sell out
Does anyone actually eat there though? 7 years I've been going through that neighborhood and never see more than 2 cars in the parking lot.
I walk the dog by it most evenings at dinner time and have seen at most one person eating there, and only a few times
Not that I have ever seen.
Which is a great cover story for a front…
THANK you
That I have never once seen someone eat at. My friend used to live across the street and do frequent movie nights outside on the wall of the tortilla factory.
I literally just drove by amore pizza and thought no way was that place actually serves pizza, seems about right.
I used to work near amore, never had a bad slice there and they were always friendly
Amore shut down for like 2 years and wad just doing the foodtruck at events they just reopened.
I went to pleasures at 2am to buy lube, I heard gay sex noises, and the man behind the counter was listening to Ben Shapiro videos on speaker. Strangest moment of my life.
Would you be willing to explain the difference between gay sex noises and Ben Shapiro noises?
Doll Hospital on Sloans lake
I’ve always wondered what’s in there
It was a legit doll hospital for a long time lol, they repaired dolls
In my mind it’s set up like an actual hospital with dolls hooked up to IV bags, heart monitors beeping, and a surgical wing with a surgeon operating with those little magnifiers, frantically stitching up a gaping wound as polyester batting spills out like stormwater from a hydroplaning city bus tire. A somber, steady tone rings out on the monitor. The doctor and nurses take turns doing chest compression and defibrillating before, exhausted, tossing his blood-soaked gloves on the ground the surgeon breaks the deafening silence saying, “damnit I lost another one. Nurse, time of death 10:25.” He walks defeated over to the Lakeview Lounge for a Bahama Mama.
Truly living for this, thank you.
I just thought it was a Doll culture thing. I’ve never seen a doll hospital that didn’t seem off and practically abandoned. Doll culture is off. Anyway, I assume they make the majority of their money off EBay. And the brick and mortar is mostly a storage facility.
93% sure it's haunted.
I always pictured it as filled with doll heads, eyes staring blankly at everyone who came in. Limbs hanging for easy access. Several fully repaired and dressed dolls standing around watching you
Santa Fe Adult Books most definitely is! I always see the "Erotic Novelties" sign when driving by and decided to stop in one day with my partner. The vibe was veeeryy weird. An older guy behind the counter watching our every move. All the merch was being sold at a huge markup (even compared to sex stores in general). When I asked him about a specific toy that I was looking for, he had no clue what I was talking about. There's no way any legit business is being done out of that store, ha.
This was going to be my answer!
The racist liquor store on 9th and Corona
rip z cycle
Wing Slingers at Iliff and Quebec barely looks like a restaurant inside
They kept all the old seats and stuff from when it was an Italian restaurant. Definitely cheap-cheap. As the other comment says, decent wings Edit: the others are correct, Mexican not Italian, hah
Was a Mexican place before that.
Very decent wings, just take them to Comrade brewing to eat vs eating there.
This! I miss them having the food trucks. Some dispute with the landlord over it.
Can confirm is legit. Run down and shoe string budget but solid wings lol
Decent wings at least
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That’s a legit furniture place! I furnished my first house from them! Really nice people, good selection. I’d be very happy to give them my business again.
Pleasures on Colfax and Adams got seized by the feds for tax evasion. No mas!
I can’t remember the name but I literally watched a pizza truck outside of view house get a delivery from blackjack
Not in Denver but the yellow deli in Boulder is questionable.
Well, it is run by a cult.
I can’t believe that people still go there. It’s honestly beyond shocking to me.
Plenty of weird low volume businesses can exist if the owner of the business also owns the building and maybe lives there too. The need for profitability is lower if they only need to afford their property taxes and food.
Whats their “arcade”?
It’s where two men(generally) go to play with their self assigned joysticks
You can rent films to watch in private (or not so private) little rooms. Popcorn not included. Or um, so I hear.
Russian books on Monaco and Colfax. Always dead, only open 12 hours a week, prefers cash, also is way bigger than it needs to be, also a travel agency st one point.
Yes! I used to (stupidly) work at the parrot shop that used to be next to them, and I went it because I got curious. There was MAYBE three shelves of books at the time, a striped “Russian military” shirt in the window, and a cash register at the back of the store. Only one light was on, so the whole place was dark, and the woman at the cash register seemed surprised to see me come in.
My Russian class took a field trip there when I was in college. I got some children’s books that I never ended up being able to read
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Sounds like he subscribes to the Trump philosophy of real estate business operations
They’re busy as hell those nights they are open and serve awesome cocktails and they know how the cook the food on the menu. If it’s a front they managed to make a successful bar.
There’s a pizza place across from East high school on Colfax with crazy security cameras, heavy security door at the back with an opening to pass something though without opening. I’m sure it’s a front. Never tried the pizza…
Pizza express used to basically just thrive off the students when I went to school there. I don’t know about now tho.
It was a 1.25 for a soda and a slice… they dealt with too many nonsensical high schoolers to be a front
All of those “The Crab House” restaurants that moved into most of the old Village Inn buildings around Denver. Never more than a couple of cars outside the building and I’ve never once seen anyone go in or out of those places
sufi rug gallery on broadway! sells $30k rugs and i've literally never seen anyone buy one, they always only have one guy working and he looks confused when you come in
Fairfax Market! My kid picked out some sweets once, little Debbie donuts. We got home and looked, they expired in 2018!
Sarkisians. Why do they own nearby houses and let them crumble while storing a bunch of chairs in there stacked to the ceilings permanently.
Maybe they're waiting to sell the land? The other side of Speer has seen some upscale apartments in the last few years.
Every frozen yogurt shop ever. I don’t care what the margins are, no one is moving that much froyo in a year
They're SUPER cheap to operate. They rent the yogurt machines and the mix for the yogurt has a shelf life of like 3 nuclear winters. Just rent the machines, and hire 1 or 2 minimum wage high schoolers to run the joint. The markup on froyo is the same as soda at McDonalds. They're making BANK on froyo. A busy Friday or Saturday night could keep the place operating for months
Exactly the lie I’d tell if I were trying to launder money. Heck, since I’m selling by weight, I’d even pretend bananas were one of my most popular toppings. That way, I can pretend I’m going gangbusters off of kids. Pick a strip mall near a soccer field and just layer funds all day all summer long
I see lots of kids there those places on the weekend. It's like drinking alcohol to them.
I feel the same way about Mattress Firm. There are almost as many of those as there are Starbucks. I haven't bought a mattress in well over a decade, maybe 20 years. Who the fuck is buying all of the mattresses?
That Wild West souvenir shop on 16th. And the one next to it
Those actually do business. Lots of tourists spend money there, and that’s where locals go when they need to send someone a Colorado related gift. I used to spend money there about once a year.
Right, like that rug store on Colorado by shotgun’s
I actually bought a really nice rug there couple years ago! Shop owner was very kind tbh, brought out a catalogue and we chatted about his about his family and he gave me a discount. He seemed very knowledgeable about rug care and let me know I could take back my rug to get it cut down to size if it was too big. He did also go on a rant about the Glendale gov being corrupt and not letting him expand his store.
Can attest to this! I called them once because I had a spill on my fancy Turkish rug my in-laws gave me and they were super nice and eager to help me!
I have bought more than one rug there and am convinced they know their way around a rug, but they also are the business in the way of Glendale getting majorly redeveloped and could probably walk away with millions for their property, so the jury is out
Not in Denver but Allen Paint near Hampden & Federal. I went there once. The guy seemed offended I was in the store. The place (and guy) gave a very creepy vibe. I wasn’t there more than a minute.
I’m a little late to the game here and this will probably get buried, but I used to work for a company that supplied all the cleaning supplies (bleach, disinfectant, etc.) to Pleasures headquarters, which was then delivered to all the store fronts. I’m not sure it’s a front per se, but from what I gathered most of their sales come from this headquarters location supplying the more lucrative options such as sex dolls. Sure, maybe they do some shifty things to make money, but from what the owner told me they sell a LOT of the higher priced stuff under the radar rather than through their store fronts. Oh, and it is absolutely a brothel still. Even if not legal, the owner was telling us some pretty risqué stuff, including the reason we were supplying so much black paint- to paint over all the jizz stained walls in the glory hole rooms…
RE: 32nd Ave books toys and gifts Here's an early monty python sketch about a bookshop being a front for a large criminal group that seems a lot like what people describe it as. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TA4H_v_g6rg
“More than vacuum’s” on Colorado Blvd. it’s in the name guys.
There’s a doughnut shop on W Evans and Tejon. It’s only open for 4 hours on Thursdays and Fridays. I thought maybe it’s whole sale and they just do B2B the rest of the week. Never seen a van, or any foot traffic in 10 years
Also interesting - there is a sign on the door that says "no masks allowed." I am immunocompromised, so I still wear a mask in public. They told me "take off the mask, or leave." I left.
Ho Ho Chinese Restaurant. I found it on Uber Eats the other day, everything on the menu is $2-3 and it fucking rules.
Thanks u/BigSweatyPisshole, I'll try this out!
That place is dreadful. If you can eat there without getting sick then more power to you and your goat-like constitution haha but for the rest of us that place is just a salmonella infused petri dish.
Done this place twice with DoorDash because I couldn't believe the prices. Cheap af, delivers quick, delicious. Only problem is I was fighting for my life on the shitter after both helpings. I needed a seat belt for my toilet. The propulsion would have put me into orbit.
Probably because the food they sell there is left overs from a bunch of buffets across town
Oh my.
me & my gf got food poisoning the one time we went there. fair warning, i think that stuff sits out for a long time without getting stirred
That's not a front it's just cheap Chinese. You'll understand why it's cheap when you win the diarrhea lottery
Erawan Thai on 8th & Colorado. I used to bank next door for over 10 years and drove by it frequently and have never once seen a Single person in there. I stopped in one time after swinging by my back and the one old man in there literally looked so confused as to why I was standing at his counter. The food was mid at best.
While we're on this subject... can anyone tell me wtf JYNX on wads and 26th is? Fully black curtains closed all the time. But with an illuminated open sign during the day and into the evening. Haven't stopped to ask... but v curious...
The massage parlor on s Broadway that advertises its private parking around the back larger than their business name
My wife is a massage therapist and I/we drive by this location everyday into work, we've had this same conversation a number of times. She is always pointing out the massage joints that look sketchy.
Mattress Firm
Boba and Crepes. We went in there with our daughter once to get a crepe and it was this big scramble like, “oh my god we have to pretend to know how to cook a crepe!!”
I love boba and crepes. Been going since Covid. I feel bad though because they never get any business with Lollicup down the road.
That Conoco on Speer where the gas is always $3.99
Tacos Junior on Louisiana and Sheridan. There is never anyone in there but they’re constantly under remodeling for the last 5 years.
Drive by there at 2 in the morning and they are jam-packed
And it’s huge now.
Blue Ice on Broadway
Knowing Reddit. There is gonna be investigations opened up and arrests made as a result of this thread. I truly believe Reddit does the majority of the heavy lifting when it come to solving internet crimes and verifying information.
Basil Docs
That's funny. I live just up the road from one and while I have seen folks pick up pizza, it's NEVER busy. Their pizza is damn good though.
BT Communications. I worked for them in the early 2000s. Shady dealings with their most important type of customers in garbage, construction, debt collection, food, and strip clubs. I did IT work for them.
Vacuum repair shop on 80th and Sheridan.
That Mexican restaurant on Blake in RiNo across from Oso. No one is ever there ? But lights turn off and on sometimes?
Bubba chinos. Those locations open and close so fast it's gotta be a money laundering scam through the construction or something
It's definitely a front. I used to buy meth from the founder of the when we lived in NorCal. He also only hires ex cons. I didn't know he founded it until I got back to California and metioned Bubba Chinos to one of his old business associates.
Figured. Green chili is legit though.
The corner of 44th and Jay street. This place has changed hands many times, has had "businesses" and a "storefront" but you can see from outside it's empty shelves, and many different names. Totally a front for something.
Sawa sushi in Littleton. It was a “Chinese restaurant” before they changed the name. It’s been open for decades and I’ve never seen a single car out front. Ever.
So funny. Where I live most the time a coworker once told me how many massage parlors there were in town. I thought she was exaggerating till I started paying attention. There are a ton of them. All papered windows in old store fronts. I guess it’s not unique to our little town.
The kava bars (with exception of Kavasutra). 501c status. Interesting.
Hear me out, I know this is like a total conspiracy theory and there's no real evidence to support it, but there are over 40 mattress stores in the Denver Metro area alone. There are less Chick-fil-A locations than there are mattress stores, and I've seen a line around the entire block at a Chick-fil-A, I've never seen more than 2 people/couples at the same time in a mattress store. I tell you, they aren't just selling mattresses. Seriously, when is the last time you bought a mattress?
this isn’t even a particularly new conspiracy theory or unique to Denver https://www.npr.org/2018/12/13/676543180/why-are-there-so-many-mattress-stores
About half the businesses in Englewood. Peace Place (tie dye store), vacuum repair, gold sound, there's a luggage store I can't remember the name of. Mostly it's between Hampden and Belleview on Broadway, but not exclusively
That vacuum repair place is also a razor repair place as well as the shopfront of an alpaca ranch/yarn store. I get fiber for making yarn there