Kum & Go shutters pump- free stores in Riverfront Park, City Park West

They came, and now they go. Convenience store chain Kum & Go is closing two central Denver stores that were part of a company pilot of locations without fuel pumps.

The stores at 1610 Little Raven St. in Riverfront Park and at 1250 E. 17th Ave. in City Park West have signs posted saying they will close by Dec. 12.

Iowa- based Kum & Go opened the stores in the spring of 2021.

A Kum & Go executive told BusinessDen in 2020, when the company leased the spaces, that they were part of a pilot of “urban walkup” stores.

The locations don’t offer gas, lack parking and stock healthier food options than the typical convenience store. Similar stores were opened in Omaha and Des Moines and Ames, Iowa.

Kum & Go spokeswoman Taylor Boland told Businessden that the pumpfree stores in Omaha and Ames are also closing.

“We’ve learned a lot from operating these fuel- less concepts; however, they no longer fit into our long- term plans for expansion,” Boland said in an email. “We will focus on our traditional stores in the area that can accommodate all of our fresh food offerings, as well as a selection of fuels.”

The Des Moines location, which is near the company’s headquarters, will remain open.

Kum & Go’s City Park West store is at the base of an apartment building completed in 2020. The Riverfront Park store is in a condominium building at the base of the Millennium Bridge, which connects Lohi to downtown. Before Kum & Go opened, the space had been vacant for about two years following the 2018 closure of the restaurant Wayward.

Kum & Go continues to operate numerous traditional gas stations around the region. Boland said employees in Riverfront Park and City Park West are being offered jobs at other locations.