Photo-illustration: Courtesy of Crocs; kenlund's flickr

Flush with a $30 million loan, Crocs is now drawing up plans for its first retail outpost, which will open in the spring in Boulder, Colorado. Phew! Manhattan is safe (for now, anyway). The Denver Business Journal reports:

"Boulder is the hometown of Crocs and a part of our strategy is to strengthen our brand roots," John Duerden, Crocs CEO, told the Camera in an email. "As such, it is important for us to have a strong presence in our home community. The new retail location will be a prestigious store in which we will try out a number of unique and interesting retail concepts which will be beneficial to the brand and retailers as a whole."

It's unclear how the store will benefit retailers as a whole. Unless shoppers just beeline from the Crocs store into anything nearby — L.L. Bean, Contempo Casuals, Walgreens — just to look at something less offensive. A cleanse of the eyes, if you will.

Crocs to open 1st Colorado store in Boulder [Denver Business Journal]