Bakery Four opening bagel shop in Gold’s Marketplace next year

Even after Bakery Four opened in a larger space on Tennyson this year to push out more pastries and bread to its cult following, the local bakery is struggling to keep up with demand.

So, in order to trim down the lines, owner Shawn Bergin is opening a bagel shop next summer called Rich Spirit Bagels at 10081 W. 26th Ave. in Wheat Ridge’s new Gold’s Marketplace development, which also includes tenants like Live Slow Brewing, XO Gift Co., Esters Neighborhood Pub, Illegal Pete’s and Queen City Collective Coffee.

“Right now, we probably make 1,500 to 1,800 items a day in pastry and bread, and we could definitely do more, but we can’t do more if we’re still trying to do bagels, doughnuts and things like that,” Bergin said.

Rich Spirit Bagels, which is named after his favorite Kendrick Lamar song, will take over the space where Little Brazil currently operates. Bergin said the kitchen will take up most of the 1,100-square-foot space with a couple of tables; most of the menu’s offerings will be takeout.

Customers can expect to see the same classic offerings Bakery Four has on its menu now, like everything bagels, sesame bagels and salt bagels, as well as some more creative flavors the bakery is testing, including green chile, cheddar or cinnamon crunch. There will also be some bagel and lox and egg sandwich options.

As a New York native, bagels have always been a big part of Bergin’s life, so his naturally leavened recipe makes him feel right at home.

“It’s a win-win for everybody because anybody who’s waited in line on Tennyson just for bagels will now have a quick place to park and pop in, and everyone else who just wants to get pastries and bread will have a shorter line,” Bergin said.

Bakery Four moved out of its small, 350-square-foot space on West 32nd Avenue in Denver after two-hour lines began forming around the block each day. And despite moving into a larger, 3,000-square-foot space at 4150 Tennyson St. in March this year, the lines keep coming back.

Denver-based real estate firms Quannah Partners and Outpost Investments are renovating the 59,000-square-foot former Paramount Heights Shopping Center at the corner of 26th Avenue and Kipling Street, after purchasing the property early last year. It’s named Gold’s Marketplace after the former Gold’s Corner Grocery, which operated in the shopping center from 1988 until 2014.

“There’s not a whole lot over there, which is why a lot of new tenants are moving into that area, because it’s a great corridor with a lot of families that just need places to grab–and–go, like us or Illegal Pete’s and Queen City, or sit down and have some fun at Live Slow or Esters,” Bergin said.

Eventually, Bergin said he’d like to open a Bakery Four in Boulder or in southern Colorado.

“We’ll see what 2023 holds,” he added.

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