Travis and Marie Garrigan didnít have the power to keep their consignment store, Unique to Antique, open after less than a year: literally.They announced the closing with an Oct. 18 Facebook post: ìWe are sad to announce we are closing our Black Forest location. We are still experiencing (a) power outage from the electrical feed damage. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns. We appreciate your business. Thank you, Unique to Antique LLC.îThey had initially reported the outage to customers through another Facebook post on Sept. 14, as they waited for Mountain View to fix the problem.In a December call from the NFH to Mountain View Electric, Sarah Schaefer, communications supervisor, said the problem wasnít a power outage, ìper se.î She said they had received a call that there was a low-hanging wire. ìWe responded immediately,î Schaefer said. ìWhile it is our wire, it was on the side of the property manager, meaning it was the responsibility of the property manager to obtain a permit and hire a certified electrician to repair the wire. We turned the breaker off for public safety. The wire was hanging quite low, and it caused quite a bit of danger ó if a tall truck were to drive by, for example. Once we were notified that the wire had been repaired, we turned service back on within a couple of hours.îTravis Garrigan said the power outage lasted more than a month. (The NFH tried to reach Garrigan again for a comment on Mountain Viewís information, but he did not return the calls.)ìWe couldnít just hang on and hope for the best. Our lease was coming up and this was just a devastating blow we could not swing,î Garrigan said. Since the store closed, the electrical power issues have been resolved, he said.The Garrigans opened their Black Forest location at the southwest corner of Shoup and Black Forest roads in December 2015, after operating a similar store in Manitou Springs since 2011. The consignment store sold an array of antiques and other secondhand items, including jewelry, furniture and accessories.Electrical problems werenít the only issues they faced; the Garrigans had planned to expand to a second store ñ- again in Manitou Springs ñ- but faced licensing difficulties.In the future, Garrigan said he would like to open in a larger space or open more stores in smaller locations. A brick-and-mortar location is important in the consignment business, he said.ìItís tough to sell secondhand items online so we donít have much of an online presence other than our Facebook page,î Garrigan said. They eventually plan to hold auctions.Several five-star reviews left on the storeís Facebook page praised the shop and its owners.Garrigan said he has appreciated the people in Black Forest who welcomed and supported them when they moved to the area.ìWe hope that we can find another spot and expand,î he said. ìWe really loved our customer base and Black Forest.î
