Alison Steele Keeps Niwot's Spirit Alive
By Madison Shaw
Alison Steele moves easily through the Niwot Market, greeting customers by name as she stops to chat between the aisles. It is clear she knows most of the people who walk through the doors, and just as clear that they know her, which is why the store feels like the heart of town.
“It’s always been a safe space for me,” Steele said. “I’ve always loved this place.”
For decades, the Market has been the spot where people bump into neighbors, grab a sandwich or linger over coffee. For Steele, it is much more than a grocery store. It is her family’s story and a reflection of her late father, Bert Steele, who built the business on kindness and connection.
Steele grew up around grocery stores. Her father owned several across northern Colorado and officially opened the Niwot Market in 2001. Steele worked for him through high school before earning her degree from CU Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. After earning a master’s in education, she taught for several years before returning to Niwot full-time in 2011. She now runs the Market alongside her brother, Seth, overseeing groceries, payroll and daily operations.
Her father’s influence is everywhere. “He was just such a nice guy,” she said. “He always said the customers were our friends and family. It’s not about making money. It’s about making people feel good and special.”
When Bert Steele died in August 2023, the loss rippled across Niwot. “Since he passed, I’ve realized just how much he did for people,” Steele said. “Some things I didn’t even know about. He was always giving.”
Stephen Sanchez, who joined the Market last year after leaving a tech career, said that generosity defines Alison, too. “She’s kind, generous and always thinking about how to give back,” he said. “You can tell she really cares about everyone who walks into the store.”
That deep sense of community sets the Market apart. “It’s rare to know your customers as well as we do,” Steele said. “This place is the center of town. People come here just to see people.”
When Boulder County passed its minimum wage ordinance in 2023, Steele became one of Niwot’s most vocal advocates for small businesses. The policy applies only to unincorporated Boulder County, requiring wages to rise from $15.69 per hour in 2024 to $25 per hour by 2030, with future increases tied to inflation. Neighboring cities Longmont and Boulder, which can set their own wage structures, were not bound by the same schedule.
For small, family-run businesses like the Niwot Market, the wage hike threatened long-term survival. “We weren’t against giving good wages,” Steele said. “It just didn’t make sense that only some of us had to pay so much more than everyone else. You can only raise prices so much before people stop supporting you.”
Alongside local farmers and restaurant owners, Steele joined the Niwot Business Association’s Minimum Wage Task Force. The group held weekly meetings, wrote letters, and spoke at county commissioner sessions, pushing to slow the increase. “The hardest part was feeling like the commissioners weren’t listening,” she said. “People online were saying we didn’t want to pay our employees, and that’s not it at all. It was about survival and fairness.”
Steele’s persistence, along with other small business owners, has finally made an impact. On Oct. 14, the Boulder County Commissioners held a public hearing to reconsider the ordinance. A week later, they directed staff to draft a replacement that would slow the wage increase, reducing the 2026 raise to just 1.5% to align with the City of Boulder and tying future changes to inflation starting in 2027.
“She was at the front of this fight,” said Tony Santelli, a longtime member of the Niwot Business Association and former owner of the Niwot Tavern. “Alison and Seth were instrumental in getting the county to finally listen. When the Market gets threatened, we all get worried. It’s the cornerstone of this town.”
Steele is reluctant to take credit, but she is grateful the county listened. “It feels like all the effort meant something,” she said.
Even with long hours and new challenges, she still finds joy in the day-to-day moments at the Market, including greeting familiar faces, helping customers find what they need, and watching high schoolers behind the counter learn their first job.
“I just want this place to keep being somewhere people enjoy coming to,” Steele said. “Not just for groceries, but because it feels like home.”