Sew More Than Vacuums Cheyenne has closed
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Sew More than Vacuums banner sign covers the Blakeman sign at Cheyenne Plaza - Optopolis |
Sew More Than Vacuums (formerly Blakeman's Vacuums and Sewing) has closed their Cheyenne store located at 3521 East Lincolnway, and they may only have one location left (in Boulder) according to their store locator.
Previous history of the space
According to the Cheyenne City Directory from 2000, a laundromat called Cheyenne Plaza Laundry was located at 3521 East Lincolnway as of that year. At this time, Optopolis is unable to confirm what other tenants prior to Blakeman operated at this location. Blakeman Vacuums and Sewing opened sometime in the 2010s, though the exact date of opening isn't currently clear to Optopolis.
Archived saves of the Blakeman website go as far back as November 2013 and seem to indicate that the store officially opened sometime between 2013 and 2015; the company name wasn't filed in the State of Wyoming until 2015. The Loveland Reporter Herald notes that the owner, Christopher Blakeman, went on to open additional locations in Casper, Boulder, and Loveland.
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| Sew More than Vacuums in Boulder (seen above) is still open, although it still displays the Blakeman banner as of September 2024. Before Blakeman took over the shop, it was called Sew-Vac. |
On March 20th, 2020, The Cheyenne Post's Leslie Belfor reported that Blakeman Vacuum and Sewing was planning to close the Cheyenne location with closing sales expected to occur over the following 10 weeks, and the owner, Blakeman, was anticipated to eventually shift his focus toward the Loveland store. However, that's not quite how things went down. Furthermore, on May 27th, 2020, it was reported by Retro 102.5's Dave Jensen that the Blakeman Loveland location was expected to close... or did it?
Ownership change, almost-closure of 2020, and additional closures
As of April 6th, 2020, the Cheyenne store was holding a going-out-of-business-sale as confirmed by Optopolis' photos. However, the Cheyenne store was reportedly sold to a new owner; by November 8th, 2020, a new sign could be seen on the front of the Cheyenne store indicating it was under new ownership.
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| Blakeman Vacuum and Sewing, Under NEW Ownership as of Nov 8, 2020 - Optopolis |
Unfortunately, due to a lack of coverage on the topic, it's not absolutely clear to Optopolis at this time if the store ever actually shuttered before finding its new ownership--and same with the Loveland store. Oddly, a January 2021 archive of the new owner's website still lists the old owner's--Christopher's--name on the homepage.
On November 15th, 2021 (more than a year after the new ownership sign was posted on the Cheyenne store), a release posted by Sew More Than Vacuums entitled, "New Ownership and Changes in Locations," indicated that the Loveland store had closed. Less than three years later, Sew More Than Vacuums in Casper posted to their Facebook page that they were liquidating as of April 29th, 2024; comments on a previous Facebook post from March 6th, 2024 indicated that the store was set to close, and the space could be seen as vacant as of November 2024.
Cheyenne store closes temporarily... or maybe not...
Under new ownership, it seemed the Cheyenne store may continue operating for a while; however, this is not the case. As of August 13th, 2024, a sign posted in the window of the Cheyenne store stated, "We will be closed until further notice, for remodeling and repairs. We hope to be open on Saturdays for curbside pickup." It told customers to call the Casper store for assistance or questions. The windows of the store had been blocked from the inside with some sort of plastic covering.
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| Notice indicating temporary closure, seen on August 13th, 2024 - Optopolis |
When passing by the storefront on December 22nd, 2024, however, it was discovered here at Optopolis that the store had been vacated. The closure notice and plastic covering was no longer mounted to the front of the store, the store floor was void of any sewing or vacuum materials, and the Google Maps listing had been changed to indicate permanent closure. The Cheyenne page on their website returns a 404 error code, and it's no longer listed in their locator.
Currently, their website is not entirely up to date; while the locator only displays the Boulder store, Sew Vac's home page lists three locations--Boulder (still open), Casper (permanently closed), and Denver (which is actually called "More Than Vacuums" and has affiliation with three other Denver-area stores in addition to Blakeman in Boulder).
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| The inside of Sew More Than Vacuums in Cheyenne could be seen as vacant and empty in late December of 2024; the temporary closure notice is no longer posted at this time. - Optopolis |
Christopher Blakeman, the previous owner of the Cheyenne store, still seems to have control of the Sew Vac/Retail Resources YouTube Channel where in the last few months, Chris has appeared in numerous tutorial-style videos. In a recent video, Chris specifically discussed his story of growing his business (Blakeman's Vacuums and Sewing) then selling it for a profit.
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