Free Market Coming To Dairy Block

Denver is about to add another marketplace to its collection with the opening of Free Market Denver at Dairy Block.

The 11K SF marketplace at 1801 Blake St., slated to open this spring, will serve as a cultural hub featuring innovative retail and food and beverage communal spaces. It already has lease agreements with Jenny Kayne, AYR, Aesop, Alchemy Works, Westerlind, Clare V., Beautycounter, Rosemont Barber Shop and Fortuna Chocolate. The market, which is just steps from Denver Chef Frank Bonanno’s Milk Market, also includes Bruto, its flagship restaurant and bar in collaboration with Chef Kelly Whitaker and his team at IE Hospitality.

Free Market Denver is the first location for the concept. Later this year, Free Market will open a second 27K SF location at the Playa Vista Runway in Los Angeles. Additional locations are in the works.

“Our hope is that Free Market lends itself to community amplification,” Free Market co-founder Raan Parton said. “From gallery installations and brand activations to rotating dining experiences, each Free Market space is tailored to drive city-specific gatherings and interactions to seamlessly intertwine retail, events, food and beverage into a single experience.”

Most of Free Market's retail spaces are less than 1K SF because they are designed to serve as short-term pop-ups. Common spaces can be transformed into galleries, performance stages and classrooms.

“The ability to build a community of brands with strong, aligned values is our way of standing out in the cluttered retail space,” co-founder Lindsay Parton said. “That’s why we’ve worked tirelessly in perfecting the Free Market experience. It’s businesses that are like-minded and best-in-class per their respective categories. To have them under a single roof is very special.”