The Colorado Feed & Grain is an elegantly traditional urban market in which to experience, engage, and celebrate the culture of the downtown Timnath community. Built in 1920, what once was a grain storage silo now invests in and develops a platform to share the story of Timnath as a uniquely Colorado town, with roots in local, agricultural, and artisan commerce stretching backwards and forwards through the centuries.
The Colorado Feed & Grain is an urban market venue in which to:
- experience life and work in balance
- create beauty through character, craftsmanship, and creativity
- engage as a community member of Downtown, Timnath, and Northern Colorado
- utilize identity in tradition as an agent for empowerment, innovation, and change
- and collaborate in shared prosperity, for businesses, residents, and visitors
It’s a community that offers not only great beer (Timnath Beerwerks coming Fall 2017), but a truly Colorado experience.
If you own an artisan food, beverage, or retail business and are looking for a way to grow, then The Collaborative might be perfect for you!
When to think about becoming a member:
- You have determined your branding and vision for your business
- Your product is unique, food-centric, and not available outside of farmers markets and a few retail options
- You have a system in place to effectively produce your product (Yes, Cottage Foods - even you!)
Strictly work with non-consumable products? Here are some questions to ask yourself when considering becoming a member:
- Are my product lines unique? Would someone be able to find similar products online (Etsy.com), or in the other great consignment stores in Northern Colorado?
- Retail has evolved to be experience-focused. Can my products integrate with other artisan goods in the market to create an amazing customer experience? (i.e. pairings, gift baskets, collaborations)
To become a member of the Collaborative, you need to complete the application online. We evaluate your application based on the membership criteria and will notify you of the next steps within 5 business days.
Yes, there is. Each time you renew your membership, you will receive a membership contract by email. Your contract confirms the Base Membership and Market Retail Display you have chosen, how long your membership is in effect, and the details your membership payment schedule. It also contains a link to the terms and conditions that must be agreed at the time of membership confirmation.
This is a formal membership contract made on a business-to-business basis which must be seen through to completion. At the end of your contract period, you can either renew or request us to initiate the exit process for the return of your products and/or props.
Remember that there may be a shelf directly above yours. If you have taller products or a tall display stand, you may be interested in the Natural Shelf or Premium Floor displays to make it easier for customers to interact with your products.
Our very popular Premium Floor displays are great to make an impactful display with depth and height. They can also be combined together to create larger merchandising spaces.
If you need advice on which space to choose, please drop us an email or give us a call!
The Collaborative sends a notification email at least 1 week prior to your membership expiration with the option to renew or cancel your membership. If you renew during this period, you do not need to go through the onboarding process again.
If your membership lapses, you will be required to go through the application, interview, and onboarding process again. This also includes risk of losing any promotions or discounts on membership, and does not guarantee acceptance of your application or availability of your Market Retail Display type.
However, you may determine at your initial membership onboarding that you would like seasonal rental options (i.e. winter days only, etc.), and you may not be required to reapply each season.
Yes, you can rent multiple spaces of the same or different types per rental contract. However this option is subject to acceptance by the Retail Manager, based on the retail display criteria. Please don't over-commit to space, as it could greatly affect your sales volume and the overall effect of the market storefront.
When you make a rental booking with us, a payment schedule will be created and you will be invoiced monthly. Your payments can be made via cash, check, bank transfer, credit card, or PayPal and are then sent to us automatically. Rental and membership fees are due by the first of each month.
Your payment schedule, dates and rental amounts are all shown on your rental contract. You will receive an email from us at least 7 days before your rental ends to remind you to renew.
All your sales are automatically stored in our Point of Sale system. Each month the Collaborative verifies your transactions for the previous month, produces a remittance statement and remits your total sales to your designated account, less the next month’s membership fee (if applicable). We don't charge any commission, and only deduct point of sale, bank, and/or credit card transaction fees that we were charged by our merchant banks for customer sales or monthly sales remittance transfers.
The monthly remittance is issued on the second Wednesday of each month.
No, as long as you are a member of The Collaborative your business will be listed on our website and social media. You also get a free online membership to RevoGrow to list up to 5 food and beverage products, and non-consumable products are listed on the the NewFound Treasures online catalog.
There are transaction fees for any online sales through RevoGrow or NewFound Treasures, charged to you as a vendor, plus any merchant services fee charged to the customer upon checkout. All online orders, payments and returns outside of The Collaborative website are handled directly by you.
Yes, you can! The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) enforces the restrictions on how and where you can sell your Cottage Foods product(s). More information about the Cottage Food Act can be found online. These are the Colorado requirements to sell Cottage Foods Act products.
- Product(s) must be delivered directly from producer to an informed end consumer and cannot be resold.
- Product(s) cannot be sold to restaurants or grocery stores.
- Product(s) may only be sold in Colorado.
- At the point of sale, clearly display a placard, sign or card with the following disclaimer: "This product was produced in a home kitchen that is not subject to state licensure or inspection. This product is not intended for resale."
As part of our brand and marketing plan, we have an indoor farmers market every weekend for Cottage Food vendors only. This is your opportunity to participate weekly, monthly, or at any interval you wish!
Our goal is to provide customers with the year-round opportunity to purchase Cottage Foods, as well as to provide artisans with the outlets for sale necessary to grow a food business. Due to regulations, however, we are unable to offer the Market Retail Display space to Cottage Food artisans. Therefore we have created a separate membership that allows you to come sell your goods, in a farmers market format during weekends of your choice.
“Retail is evolving. It had to. The old days of selling at marginal trade prices or selling through shops that take a hefty commission are being replaced by new forms of cooperative retailing. This is probably the most positive thing to happen to the retail industry in recent years.
Cooperative retailing is creative and collaborative in nature and involves multiple parties sharing their ideas, costs, and risks of running a physical shop. That simply means less risk and more shared success for everyone involved.
Cooperative retail allows all types of small businesses, designers, artisans, and start-ups, no matter how big or small, to share knowledge, share resources and combine efforts to achieve more. Working together, across multiple platforms, forms a bigger voice in the marketplace and ultimately creates a much bigger buzz and a stronger chance of success in a competitive retail climate.”
-Things British, established 2010
Yes and No. In order to have your non-consumable products posted on our online catalog, you must have an active Membership with us. Some memberships do note include Market Retail Display space. Read the section on ‘Grass Roots Membership’ for more information.
For artisans who make consumable goods and do not wish to rent Market Retail Display space, please consider a membership with our collaborative partner, RevoGrow - an online food market - which may be perfect for you.
Yes. With your free RevoGrow membership, you may list up to 5 consumable product lines free on RevoGrow. If you wish to upgrade your plan to list more products, you may do so through your RevoGrow dashboard. If you don’t want to manage online orders through RevoGrow and rather leave the selling to the Collaborative, your products can be marked as "IN-STORE ONLY".
You may link non-consumable products in the Main Street Market online catalog products on our website, completely free of charge. Not all of these need to be available for purchase in our Collaborative. Items that are for sale through your online store (Etsy.com, etc.) will carry a badge and link marked "ONLINE ONLY.”
There is no numerical limit to your products. However, there is a weight limit of about 15 lbs per shelf (does not apply to Premium Floor displays). We recommend that you do not overstock your space with products. It should be very easy for a customer to interact with your products and to see the selling price. We encourage you to create an attractive display using interesting props as well as display stands (with some restrictions).
The Collaborative has to take into consideration the overall nature of our storefront environment. Some products are already represented by other artisan members, while others do not adhere to the criteria. Some products are heavy, may need a stand (which you may be reluctant to use) or may break if they fall. Products also need to follow the appropriate government guidelines.
Yes. Once your application has been accepted, you will be given access to our detailed Artisan Member Guide, which gives instructions on such things as labelling, pricing and merchandising.
Most definitely yes! Main Street Market doesn’t restrict you from selling any of your products at any other storefront or at any other online shopping venue. Our goal is to support local artisan businesses in the food, drink, and retail industries!
The Collaborative has its own range of products sold in-store, specifically through the Feed & Grounds Coffee station. This includes bulk artisan-roasted coffee, loose leaf teas, and some food items.
If you have any questions not covered in the Artisan Membership Information Packet or FAQ then you can send us an email at market@coloradofeedandgrain.com or give us a call at 970-402-8591. You can also send us a direct message on Facebook.