Birthday bash for King Soopers

Happy birthday, King Soopers. On Saturday, King Soopers stores will offer a 60-cent sale on a variety of items to mark the 60th anniversary of the grocery store chain. At noon, each store will celebrate with a cake that will be shared with customers. The first King Soopers store opened June 16, 1947, in Arvada. Today, the chain has more than 100 stores along the Front Range.

Self-Service Shredder gets patent

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent recently for The Self-Service Shredder, built and marketed by Springs-based RealTime Shredding Inc. Patent No. 7,213,777 was granted for the “pay-per-use shredding system.” Inventor Johnny Podrovitz, vice president of business services for RealTime Shredding, filed the patent application in July 2005. RealTime Shredding’s first self-service shredding kiosk was installed at the Chapel Hills Mall in September 2005; there are now Self-Service Shredders in several Colorado locations and in seven other states.

Denver has great year for tourism in 2006

Best ... year .... ever!

Denver enjoyed a record-breaking year for tourism in 2006, according to a study released today. The study by Longwoods International found Denver welcomed 11.7 million overnight visitors last year, a 13 percent increase over the year before. Metro Denver visitors spent a record $2.76 billion in 2006.

Leading the trend were increases in visits to friends and family, up 17 percent, “marketable” visitors, which climbed a record 12 percent, and business travelers, up 7 percent. Marketable visitors are defined as visitors who are not visiting friends or relatives and could therefore travel to any destination, but chose to visit Denver. They’re the most valued because they stay in commercial accommodations and spend more money. Marketable visitors spent an average of $93 per day per person in 2006, vs. $43 per person per day for people staying with friends and relatives.

First three-wheeled roadster comes to Colorado

A new on-road vehicle called the Can-Am Spyder from Bombardier Recreational Products will be sold beginning this fall at three dealerships in Colorado: Xtreme Performance Center Inc. in Castle Rock, RPM Motorsports in Lakewood and Twin Peaks Power Sports in Longmont.

The Spyder is the first three-wheeled roadster that can be driven on the street. It has two wheels in front and one in the rear and is described as part motorcycle, part convertible sports car. It offers the open-air benefits of a motorcycle and safety features of a car, including antilock brakes, traction control and stability control.

Farewell to Longs, hello to Walgreens

Say goodbye to the last of Longs. The transformation of two west-side Longs Drugs stores into Walgreens will happen Monday night. The stores at 3143 W. Colorado Ave. and 4315 Centennial Blvd. will close at 5 p.m. Monday and reopen Tuesday morning as Walgreens. Illinois-based Walgreen Co. announced in early May that it had agreed to acquire the two stores after Longs Drugs announced it was pulling out of Colorado. The three other Longs Drugs stores in the Springs have closed.