Voice
Lone Tree 10-10-2013
Lone Tree
October 10, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourlonetreenews.com
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 12, Issue 39
City getting new top administrator Second-in-command steps up to replace longtime city manager By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com Longtime Lone Tree City Manager Jack Hidahl is retiring, and Deputy City Manager Seth Hoffman will take his place on Nov. 1. Hidahl, 70, Lone Tree’s first and only city manager to date, will stay on staff to help with the transition until late January. He led the city for 18 years. The 35-year-old Hoffman came on board in 2004, quickly rising through the city’s ranks to his current deputy manager position. The promotion to city man-
ager “is a great opportunity and something I’ve been working toward,” said Hoffman, who also is the city’s economic development director. “We’re going to work to keep Lone Tree’s quality of life to be the best it is even as the city continues to expand.” City council members are confident in Hoffman’s ability to take the reins. “I think his work in economic development has been tremendous, at both a city and regional level,” Mayor Pro Tem Jackie Millet said. “We’re very fortunate to have this young, talented individual who not only has been a part of the city professionally but whose family lives here. He really gets the culture of Lone Tree, and has certainly demonstrated a strong commitment to our community.”
Hoffman and his wife, Sara, are the parents of two boys, ages 2 and 5. “This is more than just a job to me,” he said. “My kids were born here; they’re Lone Tree natives. This is about the well-being of my family.” The change comes at a critical time in the city’s history. With the bulk of RidgeGate’s west side approaching build-out, attention is turning toward development of RidgeGate’s much larger east side, now vacant land east of Interstate 25. RidgeGate is a six-square-mile property straddling the interstate that was annexed into Lone Tree in 2000. Hidahl said the city will be in good hands in his absence. Manager continues on Page 16
Outgoing Lone Tree City Manager Jack Hidahl, left, will be replaced by Deputy City Manager Seth Hoffman. Photo by Jane Reuter
Jobs, retail sales rise in county Second-quarter figures show positive signs By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com
Clerk Danna Waltz talks to a customer at the Clothes Mentor, a resale women’s clothing store newly opened in Lone Tree. Photo by Jane Reuter
Upscale resale store opens doors Founders follow up on Plato’s Closet success By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews. com A resale women’s clothing store that takes off on its enormously popular sister company’s business model opened in Lone Tree Oct. 3. Clothes Mentor, whose founders also launched Plato’s Closet, aims for a more mature demographic than Plato’s Closet’s teens and twenty-somethings customers. It offers high-quality resale clothing, jewelry and accessories. The new Lone Tree store is the fourth Clothes Mentor in Colorado, and is open in the spot most recently occupied by
Plato’s Closet at Yosemite Street and Maximus Drive. “We focus on better women’s brands and designer women’s brands in excellent resale condition,” company spokesperson Richard Brill said. “The average price is $11. The overwhelming majority of our items are very, very reasonably priced. “Everything we sell is from local women who sold it to us. It’s got to be name brand and it’s got to be in good condition.” Commonly found brands include Talbots, Ann Taylor, Lilly Pulitzer, Chico’s, Coldwater Creek and Coach. Purses fall on the higher end of the price scale, Brill said, but also offer among the greatest values. A prominent corner of the store is reserved just for them. “The best values are on designer purses,” he said. “Things
that might sell for $500 brandnew at the mall can be $100 at Clothes Mentor, or less.” The store’s interior is designed to offer a retail shopping experience at thrift store prices. “We want to create a shopping mall-type experience,” Brill said. “The store looks great. It’s a friendly, family business. It’s warm and bright and clean.” Aurora residents Todd and Marlene Thompson own the Lone Tree store. Their daughter Emily, from Centennial, manages it. The resale concept has caught on, Emily Thompson believes, for a variety of reasons. “I think everyone is just a little more savings-conscious with the economy the way it’s been,” she said. “They’re just spending money more wisely. This is a great way to get those high-end name brands at a low-
er cost.” Clothes Mentor buys new items continuously, she said, “so our inventory changes every day.” “We’ve already had a lot of good feedback about the quality of our inventory.” Ohio residents Lynn and Dennis Blum founded Once Upon a Child, a children’s clothing resale chain, in 1991. They later moved up the generational scale to launch Plato’s Closet in 1998 and Clothes Mentor in 2001. About 80 Clothes Mentor stores are open nationwide with 40 more under development and a total of 500 planned, according to the company website. The Lone Tree Plato’s Closet recently moved to a larger space on Park Meadows Drive east of Quebec Street.
The unemployment rate in Douglas County continues to drop, dipping to 5.6 percent at the conclusion of the second quarter, the lowest since 2008. According to the county’s second quarter economic report, prepared by Development Research Partners and released Oct. 3, that number translates to 7,300 new jobs in the county, as well as an 8 percent rise in employment from year to year. The bulk of those jobs are in professional and business services (1,817 jobs), information services (1,200 jobs), and wholesale trade and employment (488 jobs). “These outcomes suggest that when we, as well as our public/private partners, focus on and invest intelligently in the foundations that support and attract economic growth, we position Douglas County for economic success,” said Douglas County Commissioner Jill Repella. Repella, and the report, both suggest that things are going to continue to improve, highlighting new developments such as Sterling Ranch, which expects to bring 12,050 single-family homes into the northwestern part of the county, and numerous companies continuing to move into the county. Retail sales have also increased dramatically for the county as a whole, jumping 6.1 percent over the year in the second quarter. Highlands Ranch led the way in retail sales increase with a 14.7 percent leap, while Lone Tree, the county’s largest retail area, was just 0.3 percent higher than a year ago. Jobs continues on Page 16
Printed on recycled newsprint. Please recycle this copy.