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Time Running Out For Bud's Warehouse, Job Training Program

By Jeff Todd

DENVER (CBS4) - A home improvement thrift store is running out of time to raise enough money and stay in business.

Bud's Warehouse has been located in a warehouse on the north side of Interstate 70 just east of Colorado Boulevard.

"Marijuana is buying up a lot of industry buildings like this. They flooded the market and made it impossible for individuals like us to sustain," said Chris Middleton, the manager of Bud's Warehouse.

BUD'S WAREHOUSE  (2)
(credit: CBS)

"We're a job training program we help people rebuild their life from addiction and homelessness."

Bud's Warehouse has offered donated home fixtures and appliances for 22 years. During that time it's been a job training facility and even makes custom cabinets from workers just out of prison.

BUD'S WAREHOUSE  (3)
CBS4's Jeff Todd interviews Chris Middleton (credit: CBS)

The program has been in its current space for nine years and Middleton says the rent in the area has tripled in that time.

"This place has given me a second chance in my life it allowed me to rebuild my life," he said.

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(credit: CBS)

Now Bud's Warehouse is looking for a second chance. Program executives are trying to buy a new space near Interstate 225 and Mississippi Avenue in Aurora but are still roughly $75,000 short on a financial payment due on Wednesday.

"We just need a better way to store and make it accessible to the public. They love the deals, they love working with us, but they just don't know what kind of bind we're in," Middleton said.

BUD'S WAREHOUSE
(credit: CBS)

Bud's Warehouse has set up a donation page hoping the community can come through and help them stay in business.

Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he's been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.

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