FIDELITY RELOCATES DENVER OFFICE TO UNION STATION AREA

Fidelity Investments officially relocated its downtown Denver investor center from the east end of the 16th Street Mall to the popular Union Station neighborhood on Thursday.

The new branch, one of five offices that Boston-based Fidelity has along the Front Range, is at 1801 Wewatta St. near several light rail and bus lines. Access to transit, along with valet parking next door at the Hotel Indigo, should make the center much more accessible than the previous location at 16th Street and Broadway, said T.J. Vondra, manager of the center.

The Broadway location, which dated back to 1986, was Fidelity’s first in Colorado and in need of an update, Vondra said.

“We always pilot these things and see what works. We gauge what the clients and what the associates really like, so we’ve learned a lot,” said Kathleen Murphy, president of personal investing at Fidelity Investments, on a visit to Denver in December.

The new location was designed with a softer, more approachable and warmer environment, Murphy said.

“If it’s designed for women, the men will still show up. But if the reverse is true, it’s more likely to turn off women,” she said.

One of the changes customers requested was to eliminate the front desk. People complained about a lack of privacy as they provided account and Social Security numbers with others behind them in line, Vondra said.