1550 S Colorado Blvd
Uptown Cheapskate is slated to host its grand opening in January 2027.
Denver has quite the healthy secondhand scene – from smaller boutique-style shops like Strawberry Mountain on Santa Fe to larger resale stores like Crossroads on South Broadway and big-box brands like Goodwill and Arc. Now, it’s getting one of the largest Uptown Cheapskate stores in the country.
Location, location, location
Located at the corner of Colorado Boulevard and Florida Avenue, the sprawling 10,000 square-foot thrift shop promises to offer a curated mix of everyday items, mid-tier staples, and premium labels.
“We purposely built one of the biggest thrift stores in the country because it allows us to take in more and be a one-stop shop,” explains franchisee Lucy Dikeou. “What separates us from traditional Goodwill or Arc stores is the level of detail in making sure the items are in good condition.”
Situated next door to Old Navy and near other retailers like Nordstrom Rack and Ross, Dikeou purposely picked the corridor since it attracts value-conscious shoppers.
“My family is in real estate, so I heard about it at every dinner conversation,” Dikeou says. “It was always like location, location, location, plus parking. If people are coming to sell their clothes to us, wanting parking that's really accessible for our vendors was huge.”
Building inventory
For the last few months, Dikeou has been building up her inventory, mostly by working with apartment communities to offer closet cleanout services. But most of the inventory will come in mid-November, when the store first opens its doors to sellers.
“During the Open to Buy phase, we'll open to buy clothes from the public, and that'll take between 4 to 7 weeks,” Dikeou explains. “Then, once we are 75% full, we'll set a grand opening date, and that will be an amazing party. There will be 40,000 items that no one has ever seen.”
Dikeou says the grand opening for the public, including buyers and sellers, will take place the first or second week of January 2027.
According to Dikeou, the buying criteria largely comes down to condition and current demand. Clothing must be free of stains, holes, and pilling, with an emphasis on pieces that look and feel relatively new. Mall staples like Lululemon, Free People, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Patagonia are among the most popular, especially styles from the last two to three years.
Given the Denver location’s massive size, there will also be an entire wing of the store dedicated to mid-tier and premium brands as well, like Reformation, Coach, Arc’teryx, and Mother Jeans, to name a few. Regardless of tier, buyers will be able to snag items at around 70% off retail pricing.
“I'd say our bread and butter is the everyday outfit. If you want to buy a pair of Levi's for $18 that feel like new, you can find that amazing deal,” she shares. “But if you want to splurge, we also have some really nice premium brands…items that typically sell between $300 to $600 in retail, you can buy for $40 or $50 [at Uptown Cheapskate].”
Everything doesn’t have to be current-season, though. Uptown Cheapskate also buys and sells vintage clothing, generally defined as pieces more than 20 years old. Sorry millennials, that means the 2000s are officially considered vintage pieces.
“Now the early 2000s is vintage, which is hilarious to me, because that seems like it doesn't make any math sense,” Dikeou jokes.
Unlike consignment stores, Uptown Cheapskate buys clothing directly from the public, paying sellers on the spot for items it accepts. Sellers can wait in the store while staff reviews their items, a process that typically takes about 20 minutes, before deciding whether to accept a cash offer or opt for store credit, which comes with a 25% bonus. Those who don't want to wait can choose a drop-off option, with payment delivered digitally through a platform offering a variety of gift cards and payment methods.
As for items that don't make the cut, sellers can either take them home or leave them at the store to be donated to Soles4Souls and Resilient Provisions, two local organizations that collect donations several times a week.
A passion for fashion, and sustainability
For Dikeou, the business brings together two longtime interests: fashion and sustainability.
A Denver native who grew up near Bonnie Brae, Dikeou has built a career around businesses with an environmental focus. After earning a mechanical engineering degree from Stanford, she entered the investing world before deciding she wanted to become an entrepreneur herself.
Her first venture involved bringing Barùkas – one of the world’s most sustainable nuts since it does not require artificial irrigation – to the U.S. market. The company eventually began wholesaling with Whole Foods before she moved on to Tesla, where she worked in the service center department, focusing on operational efficiency. She later returned to school for her MBA and began evaluating hundreds of potential business opportunities.
Uptown Cheapskate stood out as an opportunity to combine her professional background with a personal love of fashion.
“My grandma was always super well dressed, and my aunt and the ladies in my family all have some funny stories of how they would do lemonade stands when they were little to go buy clothes and whatnot,” she recalls.
Dikeou sees the resale model as particularly appealing in an economy where consumers are increasingly conscious of what they're spending. There's also an environmental case for buying secondhand.
Fashion production accounts for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, contributes to water depletion, and pollutes waterways, according to a statement from the United Nations. Plus, buyers can get a great deal.
“I think it speaks to people who love thrifting and want to know what the new rack is,” Dikeou says of the upcoming grand opening in January.
“Knowing that none of these items have been shopped for the last six months, and all these items are just waiting to be found makes it a really fun frenzy. Everyone gets a good deal.”