LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Around 3,000 employees of the Colorado Mills mall are without jobs and paychecks after the costliest hail storm in Colorado’s history forced the mall to mostly shut down for the foreseeable future.
The roof is still leaking at the mall, but two businesses—the movie theater and Super Target—have reopened. Now, other businesses are stepping up to try and help the employees at the stores still shuttered.
The owners of Mannie and Bo’s Pizzeria in Golden are among those who are helping—something store manager Janette Greene says they did for her when she fell upon hard times and needed work.
“If you work hard for them and you’re honest with the, they repay you,” she said. “In ways, sometimes I can’t speak of the words—the gratitude I have. I can’t imagine being out of work for as long as these folks are going to be out of work.”
The owners have posted an ad on Craigslist, saying that anyone hungry for part-time work should stop by their store between 2 and 4 p.m. to fill out an application.
During a Lakewood City Council meeting this week, Denver7 learned the owners of the mall have set up a new website aimed at helping employees and that the city manager is focusing on the mall’s efforts to put a temporary roof in place.
Kathy Hodgson, the city manager, said she was talking to the mall’s general manager “almost every day” regarding updates, that the roof was about 70 percent covered and that other broken doors and damage was being fixed.
“They’re not waiting for the whole mall, but as some of those are anchor stores with an exterior entrance—as those become fully restored, those will be open for business,” Hodgson said.
“Different businesses have been really generous reaching out, saying, ‘How can we help these newly-unemployed workers?’” she added.
And while thousands of employees wait in Limbo, Greene says she hopes they can get back on their feet soon, and offered a few words of advice from her personal experience:
“Have faith. Keep trying. There’s somebody out there that will help you and you’ll know when you find them,” she said.