•A History of Our Building•

Ben’s Supermarket, owned by Toshimune “Ben” Okubo, operated in this location from 1950 to 2020. The Okubo family lived in Los Angeles when Executive Order 9066 was signed into law, forcibly removing individuals of Japanese descent from their homes. The family was moved to the Granada Relocation Center in southeastern Colorado, where they remained until the war’s end in 1945.

Upon their release, the Okubos moved to Denver, bought this store and opened Ben’s Supermarket. The 1894 building was close to their home and located on Denver’s Route 28 streetcar line. Ben’s family is fondly remembered within the community. Neighbors would even knock at the Okubos’ door when the store was closed and a family member would walk them to the store to sell them what they needed.

When the Okubos sold the store in 1961 after 11 years as a neighborhood business, subsequent owner’s kept the Ben’s Supermarket name.