By Briana Harris
“Something old, something new,” is an apt phrase to describe the experience of exploring the Downtown Armory. Located on 8th Avenue in Downtown Greeley, the newly re-opened space is packed with the character of a 100-year-old building mixed with the vision of its new entrepreneurial occupants. The vintage stained glass windows lead into a cozy storefront with towering stacks of books and shelves of novelty Japanese snacks. The original eclectic wallpaper peeks from the ceiling of the downstairs hallway, while new emerging artists showcase their work upstairs. A stage with grand red curtains faces a lunch window serving spam musubi and a coffee counter offering matcha lattes.
The throughline of these elements is a dedication to creating a true community gathering space. The building has multiple tenants operating under a co-op model, which can make launching a new business more accessible than going solo. The vision started with a conversation between two friends and current Downtown Greeley business owners, Pablo Guzman of Midnight Oil Bookstore, and Ashley Fusco of Raven Sign Studio.
For Ashley, ties to Downtown Greeley are part of her family history. “My family owned Florio’s Shoes from 1922 through 2020,” she shares, “so I grew up in downtown Greeley: playing at Lincoln park, getting lunch at Woolworth’s, and cooling off on hot summer days running through the fountains on 8th street.”
“The idea of co-opting a large space was something that Pablo and I had discussed for about a year,” says Ashley. “We were noticing increasing rental rates and feeling frustrated with the lack of affordable space for start-up entrepreneurs.” Serendipitously, the owners of the Armory building reached out to Pablo about rental options; they were looking for tenants to launch a community-minded venture. He pulled Ashley into the discussion.
Soon, they had brought additional businesses on board, and they officially took occupancy of the historic building in February of 2025, followed by an aggressive timeline of renovations. “Within days we were talking about paint, we were talking about walls that needed to be moved,” says Bethany Wipf of BlackBox Arts Collective. “The building is over 100 years old, so that always presents a million little challenges,” shares Ashley, “but I love historic properties, and the landlords have been so cooperative as challenges present themselves.”
The Downtown Armory is now open from 10am to 6pm, seven days a week. Its members include a second location of The Midnight Oil Bookstore; The Green Shop plant store, owned by Ashley Fusco; Cauldron Espresso, owned by Keith Wipf, serving coffee, chai, and matcha; the lunch counter Shinobis Paninis, operated by Nelson Jorge and Jasmine Diaz; and a multi-disciplinary gallery and performance space curated by Bethany Wipf and BlackBox Arts Collective.
“I like the concept of this being a genuine third space,” shares Bethany. “I like that if someone comes here for a meeting, and one person wants a chai, one person is going to look at some books, and someone else needed a new plant – there’s something for everyone.”
“We are individual businesses with a shared vision of what we want this space to be,” says Nelson. He’s been part of Greeley’s Downtown business scene for seven years, first working in the Luna’s and Stella’s kitchens, and then launching his own catering and pop-up concepts through Bandit Burrito and Shinobis. Nelson emphasizes that each tenant can thrive off each other’s customers, and can share knowledge and support around the realities of running a small business.
The building’s centerpiece is a stage, framed in vintage wood details, and surrounded by a dance floor and upper level balcony. It has served as a performance and presentation space in many previous iterations of the building: a National Guard training center, a church, and the beloved local bar and restaurant The State Armory Bar & Grill, which closed in 2006.
Bethany and BlackBox Arts Collective are already at work activating the space with events, including a recurring open mic night, a jazz jam session, and BlackBox Arts Collective’s grand opening event for their gallery in July. “I wish people knew about the established and growing art and music scene in Downtown Greeley,” says Bethany. “We have incredibly talented poets and musicians coming through, and there’s this kind of underground arts scene.” She hopes the Downtown Armory can be another place where that work is showcased and celebrated.
“The culture is good,” adds Nelson. “Everybody that I’ve met in the scene is very supportive. There’s a lot of love there, and we just want to share that with everyone.”
