Fort Collins · 970THE FORT LIST
Halloween

The Fort Collins Business Brief · November 2026

For people who run a business in Fort Collins. Free every month from The Fort List, the town’s local guide.

Fort Collins spent 6.2% more in August. None of the gain went to restaurants.

From the city’s own sales-tax report: home and garden stores up 8.8%, restaurants down 0.3% while US restaurants grew 5.8%.

This month’s moves if you run a:

Get it every month, free →

Where the money went

Where the town’s money went instead

Fort Collins spent 6.2% more in August than a year earlier, in step with the country. Restaurants, caterers and bars took in 0.3% less, while restaurants nationally grew 5.8%. If your August was about even with last year, you kept pace with the town’s restaurants; if it was lower, look closer. Building materials and garden stores sold 8.8% more, against 5.1% nationally.

August 2026 sales against August 2025

+6.2%
all taxable sales in town, $397.8M
−0.3%
restaurants, caterers and bars; nationally +5.8%
−3.4%
sales tax collected downtown, against a year earlier
Change from August 2025, by what people bought
See the numbers
What people boughtFort CollinsUnited States
Building materials and garden+8.8%+5.1%
Vehicles, parts and repairs+5.3%+2.1%
Clothing and accessories+1.6%+4.3%
Restaurants, caterers and bars−0.3%+5.8%
General merchandise−0.6%+4.5%
Furniture and home furnishings−2.2%+1.9%
Grocery, convenience and liquor−8.4%+0.5%
Taxable sales in Fort Collins every August, in millions

The scale starts at $340M, not zero, so the change between years is visible.

See the numbers
AugustTaxable sales
2022$351 million
2023$353 million
2024$362 million
2025$374 million
2026$398 million

Other kinds of store that moved

  • Miscellaneous retailers+15.2%
  • Hotels and lodging+10.0%
  • Sporting goods, hobbies, books and music+7.7%
  • Electronics and appliances−7.1%

The growth went to homes, gardens and hotels, not meals out. Before the halls close twice, give the people already out spending a reason to pick you.

Source: City of Fort Collins, Sales and Use Tax Collection Report, September 2026 (issued October 12, 2026)

On the calendar

The dates

November to mid-January, with the CSU halls closed shaded
  • CSU halls closed
  • Fall Break: November 21 to 28
  • Winter Break: December 19 to January 14
  • Sat Nov 21, 10 amCSU halls close for Fall Break. If students are your regulars, plan staff and stock for a short week.
  • Thu Nov 26Thanksgiving, while the halls are closed.
  • Sat Nov 28Small Business Saturday, the same morning the halls reopen.
  • Sat Dec 19, 10 amCSU halls close for Winter Break and stay shut until Thursday, January 14.
  • Thu Dec 31The 2026 tax year ends. Planning a year-end purchase or payment? Ask your accountant before this date.
  • Fri Jan 1Colorado’s new minimum wage starts. Hours worked from January 1 pay the new rate.
Source: CSU Housing & Dining, important dates

Changing now

What is changing

CSU’s halls close for a week, then for almost four.

The second closure runs through Christmas, New Year and the first two weeks of January. If students fill your weekday tables, plan those weeks now.

Source: CSU Housing & Dining, important dates

By type of business

Moves worth making

Restaurants, bars and cafés

  • Put your Thanksgiving and break hours on Google this week. How to set holiday hours →
  • Hotels took in more in August than a year earlier. Take your menu to the front desk of the one nearest you.
  • If students are your weekday regulars, write both hall closures into the schedule before you post it.
  • Collect an email or a phone number at the register through December, so you can tell regulars when you are open over the break.
  • Give people a reason to come out on a January weeknight: a trivia night, a set menu, a local band. Post it on The Fort List and it shows on the town’s events page. Post an event →
  • Serve breakfast near Old Town? There is one fewer spot since Urban Egg closed. Put “breakfast” in your Google profile, with this month’s photos.

Shops

  • Post your Small Business Saturday plan now, not that morning. Post it on The Fort List →
  • Sell gift cards with a January bonus, so a December sale brings someone back in January.
  • Set Google hours for November 26, November 28 and December 31, including early closes. How to set holiday hours →

Trades and home services

  • Building and garden stores sold 8.8% more in August. Be easy to find when a project outgrows the homeowner. List your business in the trades directory, free →
  • Put mitigation work on its own invoice line, with what you did and the date, so the homeowner can ask their insurer whether it earns a discount.
  • Text back a missed call the same hour.

Offices, clinics and anyone with staff

  • Re-run January schedules and payroll at $15.71, and $12.69 for tipped staff, before you post them.
  • Before the first January schedule, decide whether your shift leads keep their gap above the new floor.

Do this one this week

Search for yourself the way a customer would.

Check what a customer sees, on your phone, this week:

  1. Away from the shop, search what a customer would: “breakfast near Old Town”, “coffee”, “roofer near me”. Are you on the first screen? If not, who is?
  2. Open your Google listing. Are your Thanksgiving and break hours on it? How to set holiday hours →
  3. Is your newest review answered?
  4. Call your own number at your busiest hour. Does anyone pick up?
  5. Look yourself up on The Fort List. Not there yet? Add your business, free →

Want a second pair of eyes? Call Riley. She works with Local Business Factory, takes your details and sets up a free look at how your business shows up online. Meet Riley first →

Call Riley at (970) 232-1736

Run a business here? Add it to The Fort List for free →

The Fort Collins Business Brief · The Fort List