"Our Aurora location is one of our biggest yet," a spokesperson for TESO Group told The Denver Post this month. That's an unusual thing to hear about a store in the old ACE Hardware space, a short drive from your front door.
The Gardens on Havana sits where Mississippi Avenue meets Havana Street. On the City of Aurora's HOA map, that's the northwest corner of the Village East neighborhood association's boundary. For years the center was mostly an errand stop: hardware, sporting goods, a haircut, a massage. Over 2026 those tenants have been replaced, one storefront at a time, by businesses that pull shoppers in from across the metro. TESO Life opened on October 2 and is the clearest sign of that change so far. It isn't the only one.
One store at nearly twice the usual size
TESO Life is an Asian-focused department store. The Aurora store at 1150 S. Ironton St. is the company's first in Colorado. The company told The Denver Post the store covers about 25,000 square feet, nearly twice the size of most of its other locations. A store that big is sized for shoppers coming in from across the metro.
The stock covers beauty products, snacks, home goods, toys, stationery and pet supplies. The grand opening ran October 2 through 4. According to the Post's report, it went viral on social media and drew long lines. A store employee said one whole shelf of Sonny Angel and Smiski blind boxes had sold out. TESO's own opening announcement lists daily hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The Post visited on a Monday evening, more than a week after the opening, and still found customers crowding the aisles.
The swaps that came before it
TESO Life tends to get described as a lone arrival. The Havana Business Improvement District's 2026 business roundup shows it as the latest in a run of turnovers inside the same center:
- Former Dick's Sporting Goods → VASA Fitness. VASA held its grand opening on January 17, 2026.
- New pad site → Dave's Hot Chicken. It opened February 5, 2026, in a 2,600-square-foot suite. AMCAP, the center's owner, announced it in April 2024 and started construction in summer 2025.
- Former Massage Envy → Vita Wellness & Spa. The spa at 10651 E. Garden Dr., Suite 105, held a soft opening September 1, and scheduled its grand opening for October 24.
- Former ACE Hardware → TESO Life. As of the BID's September 12 update it was still under construction. It opened three weeks later.
- Jamba Juice and Auntie Anne's. Both changed hands, with new ownership expected around September 20.
One space has gone the other way. Sport Clips has left the center, and the BID lists that suite as available for lease. Watch that storefront. Whatever goes in next will show whether the center keeps adding destination tenants.
Why the corner works as a destination
The Gardens doesn't stand alone. It sits at the north end of a corridor the BID describes as a 4.3-mile special district. The Denver Post called South Havana "a retail artery with international flavor," from halal markets to Mexican restaurants, and best known for Aurora's Korea Town. The paper listed recent arrivals such as 85°C Bakery Cafe, Chaton Bakery and Daiso, alongside longtime names including TOUS les JOURS, Seoul Station, Katsu Ramen, Tofu Story, Shin Myung Gwan Korean BBQ and H Mart.
A store like TESO Life lands well here because shoppers are already making trips along Havana. The same pull shows up farther south this fall:
- Mazaya Foods opened at 2872 S. Havana St., near Yale, next to Tous Les Jours. It's a halal supermarket selling halal meats, Mediterranean baked goods, international groceries, produce, deli items, Arabic and Saudi coffee, and spice blends. It's open daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Relaxing World, a massage and bodywork business, is now open in the former Vogue Day Spa at 2760 S. Havana St., Unit P.
- Americantiques expanded in September into 1961 S. Havana St., the former Colorado's Pro Gym space.
- L Café, an Armenian restaurant, bakery and café at 1930 S. Havana St., #12, is listed with an October 2026 rebrand.
Halloween showed how these pieces connect. For the Saturday-before-Halloween trick-or-treat at The Gardens on October 24, the BID said it planned to buy candy from businesses along the corridor, including M Mart, Seoul Station, Camel Halal International Market, Mazaya Foods and Aurora Carniceria. That event is held every year, so next year's date will be the Saturday before Halloween again.
Announced, but not open yet
The next group of arrivals is already lined up. None of these had a confirmed opening date at the time of writing, so treat the timing as a stated plan:
| Business | Address | What it replaces | Stated timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tí Cafe, Vietnamese coffee and tea | 1910 S. Havana St., Birchtree Shopping Center | Former 7-Eleven | Fall 2026 |
| HaBeeBi Scoops, dessert shop | 2222 S. Havana St., Havana Plaza | Former Havana Cleaners | Coming soon, under construction |
| El Pollo Loco | 2211 S. Havana St. | Former Carl's Jr. | Coming soon |
| Katsu Ramen expansion | Havana Street | Existing restaurant | Fall 2026 |
| Korean side-dish shop | Inside M Mart | Former Sonmat Banchan | Coming soon |
| QuikTrip | Former Sam's No. 3 site | Demolished August 2026 | Expected 2027 |
Hoodline reported in September that Tí Cafe plans to bring Vietnamese egg coffee to its Havana location. Tí Cafe comes from Broadway, according to the BID.
Two dates at Mississippi and Havana
When more people drive to your corner, there's more activity at its busiest intersection. Two dates in the next few weeks matter for anyone who lives nearby:
- Through Friday, November 6. Both directions of Mississippi Avenue at Havana Street have intermittent lane closures from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. while a private utility does maintenance work, according to the City of Aurora's road construction updates.
- Thursday, November 12, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Havana BID holds its annual stakeholder meeting at The Stampede, 2430 S. Havana St. Community members are welcome, and the BID plans to share its 2026 report and its plans for 2027.
The November meeting is the one public setting on the calendar where plans for the corridor's next year get presented. If you care which businesses fill the empty Sport Clips suite and the other open storefronts along Havana, this is where the district will talk about what it's working on.
New tenants at the shopping center on your corner can affect how buyers see the homes around it. If you'd like to know how this year's changes at Mississippi and Havana might play into what your home is worth, Gerlock Homes can prepare a free home valuation or set up a no-pressure conversation about your Village East home.
