Patty Brown is taking over the former storefront of Rabbask Designs and plans to turn the space into downtown Loveland’s only general store.
The founder of Rooster Browns, which is a block and a half west on Fourth Street, said Sweetheart City General will include locally sourced produce, clothing, pottery, toiletries and more.
“I want there to be something for everyone in here,” Brown said. “Walking to Safeway from the Foundry is a hike, and a lot of those people don’t have cars. Folks could have dinner across the street and then stop in here for a bottle of wine on the way home.”
On Monday, Brown closed on the purchase of the building at 243 E. Fourth St. It was previously owned by Mayor Jacki Marsh, who opened Rabbask on the ground floor in October 2013.
Marsh previously said she was selling the building and scaling down her business to increase the time she would be able to devote to her family and the mayorship.
Brown said her vision for the store was influenced by her East Coast roots — originally from Delaware, she moved between Colorado cities before coming to Loveland in 2017 and opening her men’s clothing store at 112 E. Fourth St. the following year.
Besides naming street markets and co-ops in major Eastern cities as inspiration for the general store, she said the menu for a deli counter in the back of the store will reflect classic quick fare served out of East Coast delicatessens.
“The food will all be grab-and-go,” she said. “I’m working on the menu right now. I’m from back East, so I’m imagining corned beef sandwiches, hoagies, salads, things like that.”
She also said she has a toy train that will run on a track around the ceiling, like “Macy’s in New York City.”
But while her vision draws on her experience in other parts of the country, Brown said she hopes to stock the shelves of Sweetheart City General with local merchandise, including locally grown produce and locally made wine, cheese, bread, pottery, beauty products and other items.
“I’m doing all local for everything we can get,” she said. “If someone’s making honey, we’re going to buy from the local honey guy.”
Jenny Sparks / Loveland Reporter-Herald
Patty Brown stands outside the former Rabbask Designs store in downtown Loveland on Wednesday as she talks about her plans to open the Sweetheart City General Store at the location, 243 E. Fourth St.Brown runs Rooster Browns with her business partner, Kent Shove. After Sweetheart City General opens, Brown said she will focus her time there, while Shove continues to focus mostly on Rooster Browns.
Brown will redo the flooring inside the roughly 2,000-square-foot space as well as the kitchen before the store opens.
She said she may also apply for a grant through the Downtown Development Authority’s Façade Improvement Program to remodel the store’s entryway, but because of the estimated $50,000 price tag, that project probably will wait.
Brown also plans to hold a contest for an artist to repaint the building’s second-floor west exterior wall, which currently is covered by a mural by Robin Dodge.
After opening multiple establishments back East and Rooster Browns in 2018, she said she’s ready for Sweetheart City General to be her last venture.
“Rooster Browns has been amazing, but as a men’s clothing shop, it’s limiting,” she said. “This is my last hurrah.”
Right now, she said she hopes to open before the end of the year but acknowledged that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was a source of uncertainty
“I’m hoping for Dec. 1. I really am, but who knows?,” she said. “I’m hoping that it goes faster than I think.”
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September 19, 2020 at 11:30PM
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Rooster Browns founder says Sweetheart City General will open on Fourth Street this year - Loveland Reporter-Herald
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