Optopolis' Retail News

The Food Shack sign seen on the front of the new location of the food stand - Optopolis Whether you want a hot dog or burrito, bottle of water, or bag of chips, The Food Shack has relocated their food stand to Menards. The Food Shack was previously set up in front of The Home Depot, but they were reportedly struggling to maintain a stream of customers at the old location; now at the new location, things seem to be going better. History of the shack, including Weenie Wrangler & BorderDogs The little shack that currently houses The Food Shack was previously located in front of Cheyenne's The Home Depot between the main entry and the exit near the appliance department. In the 2010s, the shack was called Weenie Wrangler Hot Dog Stand , and it was even featured in a People magazine. A post on their Facebook page indicates that Weenie Wrangler had been " slinging weenies since 2013. " They expanded in 2018 to " The Weenie Wrangler II ," their second food cart

Shari's sign on the remaining Cheyenne location's building - Optopolis In the last couple years, dozens of Shari's restaurants have closed, and it appears Cheyenne's cafe, also Wyoming's last Shari's location, is the latest casualty; it will close on Tuesday, October 8th, 2024 at 4 PM MT. Shari's used to have two Cheyenne locations + other history Many Cheyenne residents may recall two locations existing simultaneously within the capital city. There used to be a Shari's on Dell Range Boulevard located where what is now Smile Doctors Orthodontics. That location was built in approximately 1992 (ten years after the East Lincolnway location) according to the county property assessor. Shari's on Dell Range Boulevard was still operating as of 2011 - Google Maps Street View The Dell Range location closed in the early 2010s, being replaced by Steamboat's Steak and Smokehouse in 2013 . In spite of this closure, the older East Lincolnway Shari's locat

Facebook logos added to the old Cheyenne Community Connections banner for context. UPDATE 11/1/2024: The old group page is back up and functioning normally. It's not clear here at Optopolis when this took place, but Tammy C., the owner of the group, told Optopolis that she was not notified and only just now discovered the old group page is back up and going again. On October 2nd, 2024, Tammy Cooley, owner and admin of a popular local FaceBook community group in Cheyenne, discovered her group was permanently deleted by Facebook. She created a new community group, which you can join here . Keep reading for more information about Cheyenne Community Connections and what happened. An overview of Cheyenne Community Connections Cheyenne Community Connections is a local group run by Tammy Cooley on Facebook. She opened the original group page about twelve years ago, and it amassed over fifty thousand members. Her group has arguably provided an unprecedented amount of value over the ye

This sign can be seen on the east side of Pershing Marketplace - Optopolis Cookie chain Dirty Dough and nail salon We Do Nails are anticipated to open in a new building that recently broke ground at Pershing MarketPlace along North College Drive and East Pershing Boulevard. Recent events with Pershing MarketPlace Around the end of the 2010s , new businesses were being built at the site of the soon-to-be Pershing MarketPlace, including a second QDOBA, Dog Haus, a second DazBog Coffee, and various other businesses. Since 2019, a number of new businesses have opened in Pershing MarketPlace including but not limited to North Platte Physical Therapy (moved here), Pizza Hut (moved here), Verizon (moved here), Firehouse Subs (New Business), and Cheyenne Pack & Ship (New Business). Pershing MarketPlace plaza sign seen next to Qdoba - Optopolis The Verizon dealer/shop closed and was later taken over by AT&T. Dog Haus Biergarten closed and has since reopened under new ownership .

One panel of the Grand Gulch Gems sign - Optopolis This one admittedly went a little under the radar here at Optopolis; a shop known as Grand Gulch Gems on East 8th Avenue closed a little while back, and now, a locally-owned daycare known as Lighthouse Learning Center is renovating and expanding into the space. A glimpse at the history Grand Gulch Gems and its closure Originally owned by James Haddenham, Grand Gulch Gems was initially filed with the state of Wyoming in 2016; it opened on July 19th, 2017 as confirmed by Facebook posts made by two Cheyenne residents at the time ( Sidney M. posted about it , and Jessie T. recorded a short video of the store ). Store advertisements seen in Cheyenne Traders indicate that the shop offered geodes, rocks, gems, fossils, pewter mining scenes, and more. Around 2018, things took an unfortunate twist that led to James Haddenham passing away, leaving the property in the hands of James' son. Fortunately, the store didn't totally disappear

The Picklr logo seen on their Loveland storefront - Optopolis Pickleball chain The Picklr is now actively working toward plans to expand to Cheyenne. Expected to hold a grand opening in December, they will be taking over the old Big Lots space in Cheyenne Plaza--the space previously occupied by Spirit Halloween and DKG's Annual Used Book Sale. A glimpse at the old Big Lots in Cheyenne Plaza Not to be confused with the nearby closing Big Lots in Parkway Plaza , the old Big Lots in Cheyenne Plaza has mostly been vacant since 2019 when Big Lots moved across the parking lot to the former Hobby Lobby. Prior to Big Lots, this space was occupied by Pic-N-Save as confirmed by City Directories. Spirit Halloween occupied the space in 2023, followed by Delta Kappa Gamma in early 2024. In recent years, the space has been occupied by Delta Kappa Gamma's Annual Used Book Sale ( 2020 , 2022 , and 2024 ) and Spirit Halloween ( 2021 , 2022 , and 2023 ). Both of these occupants will have to fi

Marky's exterior sign on their new Cheyenne store - Optopolis In February 2024, Gering-based Marky's Meat Market announced plans to open their second store, located in Downtown Cheyenne on E 19th St near Warren Avenue, and they are officially set to open this Friday! Recent events and what's Marky's Back in the year 2022, Wyoming Ranch Foods expanded to Cheyenne , opening in the vacant space next door to Winters Griffith Architect's downtown office, but WRF closed in late 2023. Less than a year later in early 2024, Marky's Meat Market announced plans to open a Cheyenne store. Coming soon sign seen at the soon-to-be Marky's, seen in June - Optopolis Marky's Meat Market is a family owned meat market/butcher shop based out of Gering, Nebraska (just south of Scottsbluff). They take pride in "only offering aged, high choice meats." In late February 2024, they began the process of preparing their Cheyenne shop. They originally wanted to open on April