When Jennifer and Bryan Fahrer decided to try expanding their Wings on Wheels food truck business to a stationary food stand in the Fuel and Iron food hall in Pueblo, they never intended to one day run the place.

But when they heard Fuel and Iron – which occupies the first floor of the former Holmes Hardware building on Union Avenue — was closing, they began an impassioned dialogue with owners Nathan Stern and Zach Cytryn.

“They were adamant about closing,” Bryan said. “We were adamant about not closing.”

Faced with the prospect of several small businesses shutting down, and as many as 50 people losing their jobs, the Fahrers felt like there was only one option: to take over the food hall and run it themselves.

“We had a group of small business owners trying to do something, to get the

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