The Brooklyn Bridge Detroit-style pizza at Blue Pan. (Courtesy Blue Pan Pizza via The Denver Post)
Local Detroit-style pizzeria Blue Pan made its first move into the suburbs last week, and co-owner Giles Flanagin said he’s now focused on outlying areas.
“Denver has far exceeded the cost of doing business in the suburbs,” Flanagin said. “We feel there’s a lot more untapped opportunity in the surrounding suburbs than Denver.”
Blue Pan opened in Golden in 3,000 square feet at 17525 S. Golden Road last Thursday.
Flanagin, 47, moved to Colorado in 2011 and teamed up with childhood friend Jeff Smokevitch to bring a slice of Detroit — a thick, crispy crust baked in a square steel pan — to the Mile High City. They opened Blue Pan in West Highland in 2015 and secured their second spot in Congress Park just a year later.
“We grew up on that style of pizza,” Flanagin said. “Bringing something that we grew up on and loved so much to the Denver area for the first time, at that time, was really exciting.”
Giles Flanagin
Flanagin said the Golden location has two patios, a children’s play area and a large parking lot, unlike its Denver spots. He plans on adding lunch and in-house delivery soon, as the Denver locations have.
Denver has high rent and real estate costs and a painful permitting and inspection process, whereas the suburbs are more affordable, Flanagin said.
“The restaurant scene in the surrounding suburbs has room for smaller concepts that originated in Denver,” Flanagin said.
A big part of Blue Pan’s move to the suburban market, Flanagin said, is also being able to buy its real estate. He purchased the Golden location in January for $1.7 million, according to property records. Total project cost, which included gutting the building, was a little more than $2.5 million.
“Controlling the real estate helps to control our future,” he said. “To be totally candid, we want to start paying our own, not somebody else’s.”
He said rent and triple net leasing, when tenants pay for landlord costs such as maintenance or property taxes, “are through the roof” in Denver. Blue Pan rents its Denver locations at 3934 W. 32nd Ave. in West Highland and 3509 E. 12th Ave. in Congress Park.
Moving forward, Flanagin said, he and Smokevitch are “laser focused” on buying real estate and opening in markets like Littleton, Centennial or Lafayette.
“I do see there might be a point where Denver starts losing out on some really good businesses because the surrounding suburbs offer a quicker and easier process,” Flanagin said.
The Brooklyn Bridge Detroit-style pizza at Blue Pan. (Courtesy Blue Pan Pizza via The Denver Post)
Local Detroit-style pizzeria Blue Pan made its first move into the suburbs last week, and co-owner Giles Flanagin said he’s now focused on outlying areas.
“Denver has far exceeded the cost of doing business in the suburbs,” Flanagin said. “We feel there’s a lot more untapped opportunity in the surrounding suburbs than Denver.”
Blue Pan opened in Golden in 3,000 square feet at 17525 S. Golden Road last Thursday.
Flanagin, 47, moved to Colorado in 2011 and teamed up with childhood friend Jeff Smokevitch to bring a slice of Detroit — a thick, crispy crust baked in a square steel pan — to the Mile High City. They opened Blue Pan in West Highland in 2015 and secured their second spot in Congress Park just a year later.
“We grew up on that style of pizza,” Flanagin said. “Bringing something that we grew up on and loved so much to the Denver area for the first time, at that time, was really exciting.”
Giles Flanagin
Flanagin said the Golden location has two patios, a children’s play area and a large parking lot, unlike its Denver spots. He plans on adding lunch and in-house delivery soon, as the Denver locations have.
Denver has high rent and real estate costs and a painful permitting and inspection process, whereas the suburbs are more affordable, Flanagin said.
“The restaurant scene in the surrounding suburbs has room for smaller concepts that originated in Denver,” Flanagin said.
A big part of Blue Pan’s move to the suburban market, Flanagin said, is also being able to buy its real estate. He purchased the Golden location in January for $1.7 million, according to property records. Total project cost, which included gutting the building, was a little more than $2.5 million.
“Controlling the real estate helps to control our future,” he said. “To be totally candid, we want to start paying our own, not somebody else’s.”
He said rent and triple net leasing, when tenants pay for landlord costs such as maintenance or property taxes, “are through the roof” in Denver. Blue Pan rents its Denver locations at 3934 W. 32nd Ave. in West Highland and 3509 E. 12th Ave. in Congress Park.
Moving forward, Flanagin said, he and Smokevitch are “laser focused” on buying real estate and opening in markets like Littleton, Centennial or Lafayette.
“I do see there might be a point where Denver starts losing out on some really good businesses because the surrounding suburbs offer a quicker and easier process,” Flanagin said.
