As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we want to shine a light on some of the amazing women-owned businesses in Downtown Littleton who are doing amazing work. We had the pleasure of speaking with Sue Hosier, Founder/Owner of Angel Concept. Sue is not only running a business, but she’s making a significant impact in the Littleton community. Continue reading to find our what we learned about Sue and Angel Concept.
What is Angel Concept?
We’re a retail boutique and 501(c)(3) organization that allows us to operate as a job training center for women. We hire women referred to us by various agencies that include homeless shelters, probation officers, and safe houses. The women we hire need to get back to work and become self-sufficient.
What makes Angel Concept unique?
Although we are a retail store, our main focus is providing a safe environment for job training. It’s a point of pride that every woman who has gone through our program has gone on to secure a job. Our program employs 3 to 4 women at a time, who typically begin working with us 2 days per week and work their way up to 4 days per week. The women in this program work with us anywhere from 3 to 6 months while gaining the experience, skills, and confidence needed to help them get full-time employment.
We are fortunate to receive lots of support from other women in the community — social workers, teachers, counselors, business women — who volunteer their time to work with the women each week. When it comes to our operations, everyone works as a team (trainees, volunteers and managers) and treated equally.
If you visit the shop, you’ll notice that the first floor is more like a typical retail store while downstairs is more of a thrift shop that features items donated by the Littleton community. We also include customers in our mission by donating 5% of every sale to a charity of the customer’s choice at checkout.
What is your background?
Angel Concept opened 11 years ago in October of 2012. Sue Hosier, Founder, was a nurse for 30 years, and when she moved to Colorado she wanted to stay busy and help other women.
Why Downtown Littleton?
We really wanted a safe place to fulfill our mission, and Littleton has proven to be just that — a nice, welcoming and safe place. Being located along the light rail and bus line was also critical in our decision. It was important to make it as easy as possible for women in the program to be able to have reliable transportation.
What else do you want people to know?
We are so grateful for all of the community support. Many customers say we’re their favorite store and where they buy their holiday gifts. Our customers have kept us going. We made it through the pandemic and our volunteers came back as soon as they could. We are so thankful.
