Chris spent 2019 building his first retail shop by hand, only to open three days before the original three month Covid Lockdown. After waiting that out, he officially opened in June 2020, operating entirely by curb-side pick up orders for the first few months.
Despite surviving the height of the Covid Pandemic, the shopping center where this first shop was located was sold to an Autonation franchise the following year. Autonation wanted to scrape the building and park cars on the lot, so Mile High Koi V1 was forced to close.
This was decidedly Not Great, but Chris was determined to find a new way to move forward. After a winter of research, Chris devised a plan for the current Yard Shop, employing aquaponic systems to achieve higher stock density in the limited space available. As of the 2023 season, the Yard Shop offers 90% of the koi and goldfish selection in 800sqft that the original shop offered in 1500sqft. With continual research and system upgrades, the goal is to match the original shop by 2024, and continue improving from there.
Chris has been keeping fish since he was five years old. He used to work as a paleontologist! That was rad but involved a lot of travel, so when he wanted to get married to his darling wife Melanie he came up with a new career that let him live at home full time and be a better husband. Really just in it for the love of animals, be they scaley, furry, or a brilliant human woman.
Come see Chris today to find a new fish, treat a sick fish, or learn more about pond keeping.
Pebbles has lived in Colorado since May 2019. She loves the sound of flowing water and crinkling bags.
Come see Pebbles today if you have extra peanut butter or sticks! Boy do we love sticks. Like, a lot a lot.
What People Say
What kind of dog is that? It’s so cute!
Everyone
He really knows everything about fish!
Melanie
Malachite green is sketch. You can pretty much fix anything with salt and heat.
Chris