On the morning of Sept. 5, before Leaves on Main had opened for the first time, the line ran down the block. The shop sits at 2699 Main Street, near the end of Main just before The Melting Pot. It is a small storefront full of indoor plants, with a curated shelf of books and goods for people who keep them.
Founder Nancy Szilagyi is a Colorado Master Gardener. She ran her own landscaping business for 13 years and later managed O'Toole's Garden Center in Lakewood. She told the Littleton Independent she found the space by walking downtown streets until she spotted a sign in the window so small she nearly missed it. "I knew that Littleton didn't really have anything like that," she said.
Leaves on Main fits a pattern. Most of what opened or came back to the historic core in 2026 is retail. Most of what is on the downtown calendar between now and Thanksgiving weekend happens in merchants' doorways. That makes the fall events the best introduction to this year's new shops.
The 2026 additions and this fall's hosts, in address order
Main Street numbers climb as you head toward Leaves on Main. The two 2026 additions on Main share the walk with two established shops that are hosting this fall's biggest merchant program.
- Spell Books, 2376 W. Main St. An independent bookstore and half of that program, covered in the next section.
- iN-TEA, 2440 W. Main St. A family-owned tea house that has been in Historic Downtown Littleton since 2008, and the other half of the collaboration.
- The Diamond Reserve, 2569 Main St. A 3,000-square-foot bridal and fine-jewelry showroom. The Downtown Littleton Development Authority already described it as recently opened in early March.
- Leaves on Main, 2699 Main St. Open since Sept. 5. Szilagyi said getting the building ready took two months, with help from people who simply wanted to pitch in.
Two more 2026 additions sit a few blocks off Main on South Rapp Street. They get their own section below.
Two Main Street shops turned fall into a three-month program
iN-TEA and Spell Books are running Cozy Season through September, October and November. It is a shared promotion with a monthly theme, specialty teas designed to pair with books, and discounts that move customers between the two storefronts.
The mechanics, as the Littleton Independent reported them on Sept. 24:
- A Spell Books receipt gets $1 off tea at iN-TEA. An iN-TEA receipt gets 10% off one book at Spell Books.
- With the Cozy Season punch card, the tenth featured tea is free after nine purchases, and the full card also brings 25% off one book at Spell Books.
- The October theme is Goosebumps. September was Mythology, and November is Local Authors, with local author signings planned for that month.
- Poetry Night runs at iN-TEA every third Friday, 6 to 8:30 p.m. In October, the third Friday falls on Oct. 16, the same evening the Haunts of Littleton tours begin.
The two owners have offered shared discounts and curated book lists before. Spell Books owner Corey Dahl told the Independent this is their first collaboration on this scale.
"I'm jealous of everyone who gets to go to iN-TEA and get a drink and then wander around the bookstore every Saturday. I think that's like the ideal combo." Corey Dahl, Spell Books
iN-TEA owner Carole Alvarez said different employees came up with the drink ideas. One example is the Circe, named for Madeline Miller's novel. She described the partnership as natural, given that the bookstore is "there down the street."
The promotion runs through November, which carries it past Pink Friday and into the Candlelight Walk weekend.
Rapp Street picked up two storefronts
The other side of downtown's 2026 retail growth is on South Rapp Street.
Lewis and Cluck has moved back to 5827 S. Rapp St. after a few years on South Broadway. The chicken-feed and poultry-supply shop started on Prince Street in 2016 as an offshoot of Lewis and Bark. The move followed a change in ownership. Steve Skundberg, who first bought a flock from the shop when it was on Prince Street, bought the business from founder Pete McClintock. He spotted the "For Rent" sign on the building next to McDonald's while stopping for a meal, and the owners called him back within three hours. He now carries goat feed along with the poultry supplies. Skundberg told the Independent that customers moved with the store and that he sees plenty of demand nearby, since keeping chickens as pets keeps getting more popular.
Tonic Zero Proof Bar, at 5767 S. Rapp St., serves kava, mocktails and coffee. When the Independent covered it this spring, it was listed as open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Its alcohol-free menu and long hours make it a place to sit down and warm up between downtown events.
Nearly every fall date runs through a merchant's door
The downtown calendar from here to Thanksgiving weekend is mostly merchant-hosted. Here is how the season lays out, using dates from Downtown Littleton and the Littleton DDA:
- Early October through Halloween: Pumpkin Poles. Downtown merchants build them, and they stand along Main, Alamo and Prince Streets. Organizers suggest visiting early in the month, because how long they last depends on the pumpkins.
- Oct. 16, 17, 23 and 24: Haunts of Littleton. This is the 24th annual nighttime walking tour through downtown's streets and alleys and their haunted history. Tours run from 7 to 9:30 p.m., ten per night. Friends of 444 organizes the tours. Tickets are sold online through the Haunts of Littleton site at $20 for adults and $17 for children under 12, plus fees.
- Sunday, Oct. 25: Goblin Give Out. Children in costume trick-or-treat at participating shops and restaurants, with merchants handing out candy through the afternoon.
- Friday, Nov. 20: Pink Friday. A downtown shopping day with special promotions, held a week before Black Friday.
- Friday, Nov. 27: Candlelight Walk. Downtown Littleton says Main Street merchants stay open late that evening. Non-perishable food donations for Inter-Faith Community Services and toys for the Arapahoe Santa Claus Shop are collected during the event. Visit Littleton lists a holiday parade, free hot cocoa and warm cider, photos with Santa, and a drone show to close the night. It also says more details are coming in mid-October.
- Saturday, Nov. 28: Small Business Saturday. This closes out the merchant-focused stretch.
That is six events across eight weeks. Haunts of Littleton is the one built around the streets themselves. The other five take place in or depend on downtown's storefronts. Goblin Give Out happens at shop counters. Pink Friday and Small Business Saturday are shopping days by definition. The Candlelight Walk's late hours are merchant hours. A shop that opened this year, like Leaves on Main, gets its first Goblin Give Out, its first Pink Friday and its first Candlelight Walk all in a single fall.
Where this year's food news happened
Food is part of the downtown season too. Littleton Restaurant Week ran Sept. 11 to 20, with downtown bars and restaurants offering food and drink specials. But most of Littleton's 2026 restaurant changes happened outside the historic core:
- Port of Subs celebrated a grand opening in August at 40 W. Littleton Blvd.
- Cellar 36 Eatery & Wine Bar, at 5500 S. Simms St., appeared on Westword's list of April openings.
- Los Dos Potrillos, at 10065 W. San Juan Way, reopened in July after a kitchen fire on March 3.
- Lucile's Creole Cafe closed its location at 2852 W. Bowles Ave. in May after 15 years. Westword reported that the operator was looking for another Littleton site.
The biggest restaurant project on the books is 1st Street Farms, a proposed 15,000-square-foot, Southern-inspired restaurant at Santa Fe Drive and Mineral Avenue. Littleton City Council approved a public-private partnership for it. When the Littleton Independent reported the approval this summer, the developer had not yet announced a construction timeline. No opening date has been published.
For this fall, downtown's new additions are Leaves on Main, The Diamond Reserve, Lewis and Cluck and Tonic. October's Cozy Season theme runs through Halloween, the Haunts tours start Oct. 16, and the Candlelight Walk closes Main Street's season with the merchants open late on Nov. 27.
If you own a home near Main or Rapp Street and want a clear read on your home's value before the holidays, Chris Davis and Team DTC Davis can help. Request a complimentary home valuation.
