NORTHGLENN, Colo. — At a time when school supplies should be making bank for stores, the store actually named Banks School Supply is cashing out.
"After 47 years of being in business, we decided to close it down at the end of the year, for a multiple of reasons," said Shane Banks, one of the Banks family members that runs the store.
Banks opened in 1972 in Colorado Springs, then expanded for a while in Aurora and now Northglenn.
"This one's been here for 22 years," said Banks.
It won't make it to 23.
"Oh my God, going out of business sale? I am so devastated. I cannot believe this has happened because there are so many other stores that have closed in the past," said Wanda DeLorenzo, a high school teacher at Lester Arnold High School in Commerce City.
"I need bulletin boards to encourage these babies," said DeLorenzo. "I spend more time at school than I do at home, same with my kids, and so I want to make sure that when they come in, it's nice for them."
She shopped for bulletin board material and wall decorations for her classroom.
"Look around, I can't get this variety at any other store. I don't want to order online," said DeLorenzo. "I like instant gratification. I like to come here. I look to look. I like to touch because I'm a teacher, I'm very tactile. I like to see what I'm getting."
The Northglenn location is in a warehouse near 112th Avenue and Irma Drive.
"It's 18,000 square feet," said Banks. "Between 100,000 and 150,000 different products."
The most popular item?
"Probably construction paper," said Banks. "We have 3,000 different varieties of bulletin board trimmers. Lesson planners. Pencils. We have over 3,000 bulletin board sets. Probably the largest selection in the country. That's really what we're known for is being a full-line supplier of education material. We don't just take ten items from a company and just sell it, we take the whole breadth of their line."
As you try to guess why there are fewer people in line, don't necessarily default to the answer: "online."
"Competition. Property taxes. New regulations that went in for shipping to small towns and municipalities in Colorado."
Besides the competition from big box stores and online, the Banks family points to their property tax burden and the "Amazon Tax."
That requires businesses to charge customers the sales tax for where they are having an item shipped, and then make sure they do the accounting so that they pay that city or town the sales tax, even if they only serve one customer a year.
"At one time, I believe we had 25 or 30 employees, and now we're down to one," said Banks. "I worked for my parents and my kids work for us, and so it's going on three generations now. It's a neat thing that's going to be lost."
They're down to one employee not named Banks.
The store will remain open for the rest of the year.
A graduating discount will start in August until the store closes.
"It starts August 12 and goes 10% off every couple weeks until the end of the year, and that's when we'll finish our business," said Banks. "We're going to definitely miss our good customers."
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