EVERY STORY HAS A BEGINNING

Vintage military jet airplane parked outside an aircraft museum with the word 'Skamble' in the background.

Stanley Aviation opened as a 75,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in 1954, and expanded to 140,000 sq. ft. within a few years. The plant soon became the largest employer in Aurora. Today, that same space is home to Stanley Marketplace — a vibrant collective of 50+ locally owned businesses offering everything from food and drink to shopping, fitness, beauty, creative studios, and family-friendly fun.

  • A digital timeline card about Robert Stanley's birth in 1912, with a photo of the Daniel Guggenheim Graduate School of Aeronautics entrance.
  • A vintage airplane with 'The Lindbergh Line' and 'TWA' markings flying in the sky with clouds in the background, accompanied by a text box with historical information about Bob's work with Douglas aircraft from 1931 to 1935.
  • Historical photo of a young man in a Navy uniform with a timeline and description of his service in 1935, including earning wings in 1936 and participating in search missions near Howland Island.
  • An informational panel with a red border and the year 1942 at the bottom, featuring a black-and-white photograph of a vintage aircraft with a pilot inside, and text describing Stanley's engineering achievements and Bob Stanley's first flight in the Bell XP-59A Airacomet.
  • Historical information about Bob Stanley and the development of the Bell X-1 aircraft, including a black-and-white photo of Chuck Yeager standing in front of the plane with a caption 'Glamorous Glennis'.
  • Text box with historical information about Bob Stanley founding Stanley Aviation in 1948 in Buffalo, New York.
  • Black and white image of a vintage U.S. Air Force aircraft with the text 'U.S. AIR FORCE' on its fuselage, and a large star insignia. An informational text box above describes 1950s aircraft ejection seats and prototypes, including the Martin P6M Seamaster and Ryan X-13 VertiJet.
  • Historical black and white photo of a large industrial building with text box overlay explaining its history and expansion in 1954, with a red "1954" label at the bottom.
  • Two U.S. Air Force jet planes from the 1950s, with a text box describing their development and features.
  • A black and white image of a man kneeling next to a large piece of equipment, with a text box above describing Stanley's development of the supersonic escape capsule for the Convair B-58 Hustler between 1958 and 1963, mentioning testing with dummies, chimpanzees, and a bear from Denver Zoo. The bottom of the image features the year '1958' in bold white text on a red background.
  • Black and white photo of a ground attack aircraft being launched from an aircraft carrier, with a pilot parachuting from the plane and a trail of smoke behind.
  • Black and white sketch of Robert Stanley with a brief biography, highlighting his death in a 1977 plane crash and his induction into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1990, with the year 1977 prominently displayed in red.
  • An illustration of a fighter jet aircraft with beige and brown camouflage, accompanied by a text box containing historical information about Flight Refueling Ltd. in 1981.
  • Photo of a building with a sign reading 'Stantley Aviation'. The building has a white exterior with orange accents. The text below explains that Eaton Corporation acquired the company and closed the Aurora manufacturing facility in 2007, relocating some divisions to Tijuana, Mexico.
  • Text box with the year 2014 and a paragraph about Flightline Ventures acquiring a property for renovation of a former aircraft manufacturing facility, inspired by Denver's The Source and other markets. Below the text, an interior photo of a large industrial space under renovation, with workbenches, chairs, and construction materials visible, illuminated by bright overhead lights.
  • A group of people walking outside a building with a retro sign that reads "Stany" in blue neon. The bottom of the image has a red section with the year "2016" in large white text.

A New Chapter Begins

In 2016, Stanley Marketplace opened with a simple but powerful idea: create a space where community isn't just welcomed, it's celebrated. We envisioned a place where barriers come down, connections flourish, and everyone has a seat at the table. From our first day, we've been driven by the belief that the best places aren't just built, they're co-created with the people who call them home. What follows is our STANIFESTO: the principles that guide us, unite us, and remind us why we do what we do.

THE STANIFESTO

We believe in bringing people together and making them happy.

We believe in making connections: between neighborhoods and generations and strangers and friends. And we do that, by taking down fences and building bridges, figuratively and literally.

We believe the best rules are simple and clear:
Love your neighbor. Leave each place better than you found it. Do good and be good.

We believe there’s no point in making a profit if you’re not also making a difference.

We believe one of the best ways to take care of yourself is to take care of others.

We believe in honoring the history of the land we temporarily occupy. Bob Stanley was the first American to fly a jet plane. Also he invented the ejection seat. There is a history of innovation here, of boldness. We embrace it.

We embrace collaboration and curiosity, too.
Also good food and music and dancing in the grass.

We are locally inspired and community desired.
We asked ourselves what would make the best marketplace in the universe. Then we asked our neighbors. And then we built it.

We are guided by the belief that there is nothing better than spending time with family and friends in a beautiful place with excellent food and incredible views.

Every day is an opportunity to put goodness into the world. Positivity is contagious. Kindness is a virtue. We live these beliefs, and that’s why we are all at home here.

A store is a place people go to buy things. Stanley Marketplace is where people go to live: to eat, drink, work, play, learn, grow, gather, and explore, to see friends and make new ones.

We’re Stanley. We’re here for good.

STANLEY

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