Finally, the fencing went up and the weeds on top of the big pile of dirt moved. This week, the developers behind the Exchange at Boulevard One retail complex in Lowry broke ground on Clark’s Market’s first location in Denver.

“We’ve been looking toward Denver for the last five years. We had some people who frequent our stores in the mountains call us up and tell us about the Lowry opportunity, and the conversation started from there,” Tom Clark said.

The 25,000-foot Clark’s, expected to open next January, will join Target as the co-anchor of the retail complex being developed by Englewood-based Kelmore Development and Denver-based Confluent Development at the southwest corner of 1st Avenue and Quebec Street.

The grocer has six other locations in Colorado mountain towns, including Aspen and Telluride, and a total of three stores in Utah and Arizona.

Clark hopes this will be the first of many Clark’s Markets in and around Denver, although that vision is still in the early stages.

“We’re a small company. So, we move slowly and deliberately. We’ll see how this store is received and make plans from there,” he said.

In addition to Target, which opened in October, Clark’s Market will be joining 15 previously announced tenants, including SCL Health, Yoga Six, Scissors & Scotch, Chase Bank, Blue Sky Nails & Spa, I Scream Gelato, Crisp & Green, Sushi Ronin and Mod Pizza.