After 45 years of retail service, Pat’s Furniture & Carpet House is closing its doors.         

    Rather than placing the blame on any sole issue, proprietor Michael Bradley attributed the shutdown to a combination of factors.         

    While the economy and the state of retail business downtown are factors, proprietor Bradley is anything but sour grapes about Brighton, and the friends he has made over the 20 years he has owned Pat’s. In fact, it’s his gratitude that stands out, his gratitude and the easy manner in which he recalls friends and customers alike, in many cases one and the same.

    “I want to just say thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart, for 45 years of wonderful opportunities and life here in Brighton,” Bradley said. “It has been an absolute pleasure working with the people of Brighton and the surrounding communities. I sincerely can’t say thank you enough for how much people have done to support Patrick’s Furniture in the community. I almost get teary eyed when I think of it. It has been an absolute joy.”

    Originally owned by Pat Dingus, who opened the first Pat’s Furniture where an expanded La Placita now stands, Pat’s Furniture has served Brighton’s furniture needs for nearly half a century. Bradley bought the store from Dingus in 1991, when it was housed across the street where the Game Trader is. He moved into the former Woolworth’s building in 1994, where he has remained until now.

    “It’s been a very, very good business, and I have certainly enjoyed it, but downtown has certain restrictions,” Bradley said. “They really lack parking. I hear people complain about the parking being difficult. Plus, there aren’t as many of the businesses that used to bring people to downtown Brighton. The Prairie Center is built, there is the King Soopers shopping area…”

    The new sections of town, while boosting municipal sales tax revenues and providing a better mix of goods and services to Brighton residents, nonetheless pull shoppers away from the old core of the city while the focus shifts to a more urbane crowd, according to Bradley.

    “I just don’t see the type of traffic that I used to see during normal business hours during the ‘90s and the early 2000s,” Bradley said. “The demographic has changed. There is a lot more restaurants, a few more bars. That caters more to the later evening activities with the Pavilions and things like that.”

    Bradley, who has worked what he said was a six-day week for 20 years, says he is overdue for some family time and some visitation. He plans on resting up and enjoying his relatives before looking into another career, perhaps in the finance or accounting fields. Before that can happen, he needs to sell the inventory he still has on the floor. To that end, Pat’s Furniture will hold an auction the weekend after Thanksgiving.

    “The people can come in, they will be able to view the products on Friday, the fourth of December,” Bradley said. “Then the auction starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday the fifth.”

    Bradley said that there is no pressure to move the furniture the day of the sale, if inclement weather or situations dictate otherwise.

    “I live in town. My landlord isn’t forcing me out, so I can always come down to the store later in the week so folks can pick up their stuff,” Bradley said.

Contact MetroWest City Editor Gene Sears at 303-659-2522 Ext.217, or e-mail gsears@metrowestnewspapers.com.