After years of sitting dark on Madison Street, the onetime Frank’s Food Mart in Denver’s Skyland neighborhood is getting a reboot. The corner space at 2800 N. Madison is slated to reopen as The Corner On Madison, a compact grocery, liquor shop and European-style café that its new owners hope will double as a true neighborhood third place.
Local residents and co-owners Max Bramer and Emily Quinlan plan to stock everyday staples like produce, dairy and basic household goods, along with a bar and prepackaged meals, and are aiming for an April opening. For Skyland neighbors who have gone without a nearby market for years, the revival of the old storefront could mean not having to cross busy arterials just to grab fresh food.
According to Denverite, Bramer and Quinlan first noticed the long-vacant space while walking through the neighborhood, then reached out to the realtor and signed a lease to renovate the former corner store. Neither has a background in grocery retail. Quinlan comes from nonprofit and community development work, and Bramer from operations, and they told Denverite they are betting those skills will carry over to running a small market. Their plans call for a neighborhood café and a liquor counter in addition to basic groceries and household essentials.
A commercial listing for 2800–2810 N. Madison promotes the stand-alone building as a retail reuse opportunity and includes conceptual layouts that match a grocery plus café setup. The listing highlights the single-story footprint and describes the site as well suited to a small market and deli, which lines up with Bramer and Quinlan’s vision, according to Showcase.
Online map and business listings still know the address by its old identity. MapQuest continues to show “Frank’s Food Mart” at 2800 N. Madison, even as the storefront is refitted for its next chapter as The Corner On Madison.
A Walkable Market, Finally
Skyland has spent years without a full-service grocery within easy walking distance, which has made quick trips for produce or meat a chore for residents who walk or rely on transit. Denverite reports that Ben’s Supermarket closed in 2020 and Frank’s shut in 2017, pushing shoppers across Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard or Colorado Boulevard to reach other stores. At recent neighborhood meetings, community leaders told the outlet they want more local commercial space where people can both gather and take care of daily errands.
Where You'll Go Now
Right now, the closest full-service options are Spinelli's Market at 4621 E. 23rd Ave and Park Hill Supermarket at 3770 E. 40th Ave in Clayton, each more than a mile from 2800 N. Madison. Both sit beyond major roads that can make lugging groceries home on foot a less-than-appealing proposition for many neighbors.
What Comes Next
The Corner On Madison’s owners say interior renovations are underway and that they expect to roll out the business in stages: complete the buildout, stock shelves, then open with limited hours while they fine-tune what they sell and how they operate. Conceptual drawings in the property listing, combined with the owners’ stated plans, point to a layout designed to function as both a grocery and a small café, according to marketing materials on Showcase.
If The Corner On Madison hits its target timeline, neighbors say it could help spur more small-business activity on the block and restore some of the day-to-day walkability Skyland lost when its corner markets closed. For now, both residents and the new owners are watching the slow, less glamorous side of a neighborhood comeback: permitting, interior work and supplier deals that have to fall into place before the old Frank’s address can reopen as the area’s next corner hangout.
