Dr. Devon Peña was recently interviewed on the Marketplace to discuss Colorado's oldest business reopening as a community food co-op. Colorado’s oldest continuously run business is a small general store near the border of New Mexico in the town of San Luis. The R&R Market opened in 1857. Ownership has been passed down through the same family, generation after generation, until just a couple of years ago. That’s when a local nonprofit purchased the old adobe structure. And with new management comes a new vision and a new name: The San Luis Peoples Market.
The last family owners of the market retired in 2022 and had no family who wanted to take over. So, Dr. Peña bought the place with the help of about $3 million in grants and private funding. He wants the market to become a community tentpole.
“You can’t sustain a business model unless you become a destination,” Peña said.
Listen to the interview and read the full article on "Colorado’s oldest business to reopen as a community food co-op - Marketplace".