BOULDER, Colo. — Nearly a year after a man shot and killed 10 people at a King Soopers in Boulder, the store is reopening on Wednesday. Some employees who worked that day plan to be there, and head back to work too.
This building is more than a grocery store. Joel Giltner calls it home.
"The neighbors see each other there," Giltner said. "Friends interact all the time there. It is a good place to be."
He's worked at this King Soopers for three decades. Coming back here since that day in March hasn't been easy.
"I was out on break in my car, smoking," he said. "I have been told smoking saved my life. I was getting out of the car to get back inside."
He heard a couple of gunshots and looked up. That is when he saw the shooter.
Some of his coworkers and loyal customers were killed that day. Almost a year later, he will return to see the doors of the store open again on Wednesday.
Take a look inside the newly renovated Table Mesa King Soopers
"I haven't enjoyed working at other stores nearly as much as this place, and the familiarity and community in general is really welcoming," he said.
This is a place he feels like he belongs. That is why he's going to work there still as a produce clerk.
"We are taking back what is ours, definitely," he said.
Logan Smith was working as a Starbucks barista inside of the King Soopers when the shooter came to the store.
He calls the reopening a victory.
"We overcame the tragedy that happened and it shows the strength of the community," he said.
Smith has a job somewhere else, but he plans to be at the store for the reopening.
"The events that happened in that store, they won't go away," he said. "It's the fact that it's a new beginning that brings closure. It is a new start."
Employees are ready to welcome back customers who feel more like family. They are returning because there is no place like home.
"They are the extended family," Giltner said. "This place, it is a family store."
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