DENVER — There’s nothing quite like chatting with a friend over a good cup of coffee. A new Denver coffee shop called Migas Coffee is serving up that feeling every day in the city's Five Points neighborhood.
The Black and Latina-owned coffee shop, which opened in April, is grounded in the neighborhood’s roots.
“The name Migas comes from amigas, which means friends in Spanish,” said co-owner Marisol Jurado.
Jurado owns the coffee shop with her friend, Alex Merriex. She balances Migas with her career as a marriage and family therapist. Her career background shows through the business’s tagline, "Let us fill your cup."
“Where is your cup? Is it full? And how can we fill it? Whether that means just like a cup of coffee or if that means checking in with you,” said Jurado.
For Jurado, coffee means more than just a kick of energy.
“When I got sober, I realized I didn't really have a good way to connect with people,” she said. “I started inviting people out to coffee instead of going out to the club and going out and party. And people receive that really well.”
Migas is located on Walnut Street inside Green Spaces Market, a place near and dear to Merriex’s heart.
“My grandfather's house was on 24th and Welton,” he said. “So right in the heart of Five Points.”
Merriex, who works for Charles Schwab, uses the knowledge he gained in his finance career to help fuel the shop.
“I get teary-eyed thinking about how I came from living on the east side to being able to open up a business down here. And that's just so important to me,” he said.
Jurado said they chose Five Points for a reason.
“It's important to us that we're Black and brown-owned, and we're back in the Five Points community,” she said.
According to the Small Business Administration, there were 684,726 small businesses in Colorado in 2023, with racial minorities owning 8.3% percent of them. That’s part of the reason why Green Spaces Market owner Javon Taylor provides opportunities for minority business owners.
“Local creators and minorities can come in and feel safe,” said Taylor. “Feel like they have a supportive community.”
For example, the floral design company Black + Blossomed, which is also located inside Green Spaces Market, supplies flowers for Migas.
“We have a symbiosis going on,” said Black + Blossomed owner Breigh Jones-Coplin. “I get coffee, and then (Marisol’s) just like, ‘Can I get some flowers?’ And it just works out.”
Jurado and Merriex look forward to helping customers feel like part of their growing community.
“We're just really focusing on that connection,” said Jurado.
