House of Carmel Inc. has been in business for 50 years in the Denver metro area and was started by Arvada resident, Carol Mally, in 1974 as a means to keep her busy and a longing to have a way to spread her deep religious values. The name of the store is derived from a great devotion to "Our Lady of Mt. Carmel," and Carol and her husband being third order Carmelites, decided to devote and name the business in honor of the Blessed Mother whom has blessed their family for many years. Thus "House of Carmel" was started.
House of Carmel's original location in the Arvada Plaza Shopping Center began drawing customers from all over the Denver metro area. Carol began with a few folding tables, cash box and utilized a small amount of capitol to purchase religious gifts, bibles, books and returned all her earnings to keep the store supplied and bring the business to where it is today. The store gave the family a means to keep teenage children, relatives and close friends a clean wholesome working environment and still is family owned and operated today.
In the early eighties there was such demand and interest in the store that House of Carmel spread its wings and opened a second location in the Lakeside Mall. This location did very well and expanded into a larger location in the same mall. The mall fell into some major financial troubles and House of Carmel decided to relocate and combine both locations to Wheat ridge Colorado where they have been for the past 20+ years.
Carol's husband John who retired from a long career in the insurance industry shortly after opening the store jumped right in and the family business was under way. Carol and John who are now well into their retirement years are still active in the day-to-day operations
