Optopolis' Retail News

A fire rescue engine on its way back to the station - Optopolis Ground has officially broken ground on three brand new fire stations belonging to Cheyenne Fire Rescue. Here's some context into the things that are changing as well as the locations where all the stations are being built. Stats and background Not including the newly planned stations, there are currently five operating CFR stations in the capitol city, also not including Station No. 4 which closed in 1987 according to the CFR website . Posts on the CFR Facebook page , a post on the city Facebook page , and articles from other news sources indicate that two of the stations will be relocating from old locations; the other station will be an expansion. Fire Station No. 3 is currently located on the corner of E Lincolnway (US-30) and Cleveland Avenue, while (Cole) Fire Station No. 5 is located in front of Walmart at the intersection of Blue Grass Circle and Dell Range Blvd. According to the station locations page of the

  LEFT: Birds-eye view of the two residential buildings on Moran Ave near Dell Range Blvd | RIGHT: Public Notice Sign - Optopolis You may have noticed the public notice sign standing near the dead-end section of Moran Ave, indicating that something new is in the works to replace the existing high density residential structures. Project items in the city planning website indicate what that current plan is. Some background According to the property assessor map, all the structures currently making up the one-block section of Moran Avenue between Dell Range Blvd and Sheridan Street were built in 1964. They are multifamily apartments currently zoned within the classification of high density housing. There's apparently been talk of replacing the structures for many months, with items appearing in the city planning website as early as June 2022 when, according to a document in one of the project items, all tenants were informed of the redevelopment; said-document states that five of the

Now open sign standing near the new Tres Amigos on Dell Range Blvd - Optopolis Two new businesses along the Dell Range Blvd corridor have opened - A Mexican restaurant and the new mental health urgent care! Starting to the west and moving east... Tres Amigos opens second location Tres Amigos opened their first Cheyenne location back in August 2021 in the former Village Inn along W Lincolnway. That location seems regularly busy (at least, the parking lot has been relatively packed when passing by during their business hours as observed here at Optopolis). Coming Soon: Tres Amigos sign - Optopolis By August, they were already beginning to remodel the interior of the former MEAT @ Kennisons restaurant in the Center One plaza just out front of Petco. In September, it was confirmed here at Optopolis as a soon-to-be Tres Amigos Family Mexican Restaurant. The history of this space has already been talked about in the last article of this developing story, so now it's time to share an upd

Barnes & Noble Cheyenne when it was still open - The Retail Photographer Back around the end of March 2022, Barnes & Noble employees learned the Cheyenne B&N store would be closing to move to a new location, and it appears their plans for the new location have changed! Context of move In mid to late 2021, plans appeared in the City Planning website for a new loading dock at Barnes & Noble. At the time, it wasn't entirely clear that Barnes & Noble and Natural Grocers were going to be moving to different locations, but it later did become clear what was up when Barnes & Noble Cheyenne announced on their social media (including Instagram ) about their plans to relocate. B&N began their moving sale on March 31st as can be seen in this video captured that day , closing on May 15th. They originally announced plans to temporarily take over two spaces inside the Frontier Mall near JAX Outdoor Gear--that is, the former All Wild Western and former Asian Gift, bot

Runza's standalone sign at the Loveland, Colorado location - Optopolis Not only is Runza not coming to the vacant lot next door to City Brew Coffee, but now, it appears there are plans for something else to come instead--First National Bank of Omaha. What's the deal with Runza? Is Runza still coming? Back in December 2021, several news outlets including 101.9KING and Oil City News were raving about Runza coming to Cheyenne; Runza had announced on their website that they were actively looking to come to the capitol city. By January 2021, Runza posted a sign at the vacant lot between Taco Johns and City Brew Coffee on Dell Range Blvd (what would have been the then-soon-to-be location of Runza), looking for someone interested in owning the Cheyenne franchise. Runza Coming Soon sign standing at the property in January 2022 - Optopolis Had things worked out quickly, this definitively would have been Wyoming's first Runza location. Unfortunately, the coming soon sign has been t

A Freddy's that is currently open, located in Loveland, Colorado - The Retail Photographer Over ten months ago, an article was posted here at Optopolis that Freddy's was coming to Cheyenne. Things have officially--physically--began rolling at the site of the soon to be Freddy's. Here's a glance at what it'll look like and what to expect! Plans for a Cheyenne location begin Plan submissions Talk of Freddy's coming to Cheyenne was already spreading through the capitol city over a year ago by spring 2021. Unfortunately, until later in the year, that was only rumor found via word of mouth; items officially began appearing in the projects section of the Cheyenne Planning and Development website for a new Freddy's back in August 2021, confirming some form of plans were in place. Items began appearing for permits for Freddy's back in March 2022, when electrical plans were submitted as well as plans for the signage that would appear on the building. A Building

The new McDonald's already has walls being added onto the frame! - Optopolis A new McDonald's is being built on South Greeley Hwy, which will return Cheyenne to having five McDonald's locations at one time! Background A few months ago, site plans were submitted to the county planning website for a new McDonald's to be built at the vacant lot just south of the Outlaw Saloon, in addition to "now hiring" signs being posted on the property. Even a notice of development action sign was posted! Notice of Development Action sign - Optopolis Fast-forward to around the start of August, the foundation of the new McDonald's was already actively beginning the process of being built! By this time, fencing was surrounding the entire property. Fencing surrounds property and mounds of dirt sit on the property - Optopolis Just under a couple more months later, the frame of the building would be built, and as of October 6th, the exterior walls were already going up. Surveyo

  Cheyenne's Dutch Bros isn't coming to the former Fernando's on Dell Range - Optopolis Back in October 2021, there were site plans in the city planning website for a new Dutch Bros Coffee. Now, it appears the project may be no more, seeing a new submission within one of the project items from April 2022 in addition to some other rather unexpected details. Fernando's Mexican Grill closes, site plans for Dutch Bros show up As of the time of the post here on Optopolis from last October , there were site plans within one of the project items on the Cheyenne City Planning website in place for a new Dutch Bros, suggesting that Fernando's Mexican Grill, the most recent tenant of the former Dell Range Burger King, would have to either relocate or close. The site plans noted Major Wood Partners, LLC as the owner of the property, and a recent check of the property assessor maps confirms this info. Lower Fernando's sign was taken down, while the more temporary sign still

A small excavator sits on the site of the then-soon-to-be-built Mattress Firm building on Dell Range Blvd - Optopolis There have been many construction projects (including retail ones!) happening along the Dell Range Corridor and vicinity. Here's an update on new changes taking place in the area! Find places by vicinity (listed mainly west-to-east/north-to-south): North of the Frontier Mall At the Frontier Mall Frontier Mall Dr to Rue Terre Walmart (Dell Range) and vicinity Menard's and vicinity North of the Frontier Mall Starting further west and just north of the Frontier mall, progress has been made on numerous projects. For instance, US Renal Care/Cheyenne Dialysis started building a location along Prairie Avenue earlier this year ( as previously shared here on Blogger ), and not only is it now built--it is open!