BOULDER, Colo. — After being closed for nearly 11 months, King Soopers at Table Mesa in Boulder will reopen Wednesday.
On March 22, 2021, a shooter, killed 10 people at the store and it’s been closed since.
“We saw panic and we tried to respond as quickly as we could. We tried to help out some people and then protect ourselves at the same time. It was very nerve-racking,” said Abo’s Pizza Manager On-Shift Joshua Selvin.
For nearly a year, King Soopers worked to get the store back open and make it more welcoming for both customers and employees after the tragic day.
“We’ve definitely felt a strong hole in the shopping center and in the community,” Selvin said.
Tracy Smith has shopped at the location for decades and hopes to be back in the store Wednesday.
“We are very excited to have the anchor of our neighborhood back. I mean, that’s where you see everybody. That’s where you run into all your friends; you’re in there multiple times a week. It really is the help of the neighborhoods,” Smith said.
She was inside just hours before the shooting. For the past 11 months, she says her routine was somewhat interrupted.
“We see those familiar faces, and we talk to them. And some of them we talk to – you are coming back and some of them aren’t. But that’s just it, it just becomes a fabric of your life,” Smith said.
When many customers and associates return Wednesday, they’ll find major changes and improvements. Starting with floor-to-ceiling windows that show off the Flatirons. Some of the departments are also bigger and store lighting has improved. There’s also a vestibule upon entry with a mural called ‘A New Day,' by local artist Lael Har.
Take a look inside the newly renovated Table Mesa King Soopers
A King Soopers spokesperson says several safety and security features were made but did not expand on what all that includes.
The final piece to this project will be a remembrance garden revealed in June. The garden will serve as a living legacy for the 10 lives lost at the store. It will be open to the public at the west corner of the parking lot.
King Soopers said half of those who worked at the store last year decided to return for the reopening.
Smith said, "I think most of us are just excited to have that piece of our lives put back. While we are sad at the tragedy, part of healing is getting the grocery store back and continuing on. And being able to talk to other people who might’ve been there and who had seen things."
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