Downtown Aspen’s off-season shuffle is in full swing.

Ubiquitous brown paper held in place with blue tape appears de rigueur for shop windows of late. Behind the covering, the unmistakable whine of power tools signals another off-season tradition — renovations. When the paper comes down, shoppers will discover a handful of new retailers and plenty of others that have simply picked up and moved to a new locale.

“You know, it’s musical chairs every off-season. It’s just more than usual this year,” said Ruth Kruger, a broker with The Fleischer Co. who specializes in commercial real estate.

A lot of Aspen’s downtown buildings were built roughly 20 years ago, and many 10- and 20-year leases are coming due.

“The truth of the matter is, it’s just a cycle,” Kruger said. “It’s a lease cycle — leases expiring at the same time.”

While a few noticeable vacancies will greet tourists this holiday season — the large space vacated by Banana Republic in the Independence Square building and the Kobey building (the former SportsStalker) on the Hyman Avenue mall — other spaces are being snapped up by newcomers, expansions and businesses on the move.

“We don’t have nearly as many empty spaces as last year,” Kruger said. “Last year, we had a boatload of empty spaces.”

The marketing of the Banana Republic space is going well, according to Harley Baldwin, who’s brokering the space on behalf of the landlord, M&W Properties. A trio of Gucci-owned boutiques had been lined up to take the space, but Gucci backed out of the plan.

“It’s down to the final negotiations with several parties,” Baldwin said, though he doesn’t expect occupants during the winter season. “In a perfect world, it would be open by July 4.”

Next door, L’Occitane en Provence has taken over the space vacated by Porsche Design, offering natural beauty, skin care and fragrance products.

Nearby, Manrico Cashmere has reopened on the Cooper Avenue mall after an extensive renovation of the building that once housed Guido’s restaurant upstairs.

Plans are still in the works

for a new Italian restaurant on the second floor, as well as a wine bar/lounge on the ground floor, to the rear of the retail space. The debut of the restaurant and lounge has been pushed back to next June, said Manrico co-owner Virgile Verellen.

On Galena Street, Baldwin has plans for the space vacated by Tod’s, which offered high-end Italian shoes.

He expects to open Baldwin Modern shortly before Christmas, featuring French and Italian designer furniture, glass, paintings and drawings from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s.

In the same building, Heidi Semrau will open Imelda’s in the former Hildegard’s space later this month, featuring men’s and women’s designer shoes. Semrau also owns Distractions, a women’s clothing boutique on Hopkins Avenue.

Some of the shoes and handbags from clothing designers that are featured at Distractions will be offered at Imelda’s. So will Tod’s and Hogan — a line of shoes owned by Tod’s that is sold in just a handful of U.S. locations, according to Semrau.

“People who shop in big cities, even, would have to look very, very hard to find these lines,” she said.

Also on the move is the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, which will reopen on the end of the Cooper Avenue mall across from Wagner Park, where it will offer outside seating. Reportedly, the chocolate kept melting in the sunny windows at the shop’s former location in the Aspen Grove building.

Enstrom Candies, based in Grand Junction, is headed for the former Chocolate Factory space, according to Kruger. Handmade almond toffee is Enstrom’s speciality.

Next to the new Enstrom’s, Goldies boutique is relocating from Mill Street into the former Trattoria Toscana space, making way for the Aspen Club & Spa on Mill Street. The club plans to offer chair massages and sell club memberships there. It will also be a retail outlet for fitness wear, including the line featuring the club’s logo, as well as spa/salon products.

Gorsuch Ltd. is expanding into the space next door to its Cooper Avenue mall location, where Valbruna sold Italian ski wear and operated a cafe before closing at the end of the last ski season. After Valbruna, a gallery came and went in the space.

Sussi Strid, who managed Valbruna, will open the Aspen Outlet in the City Plaza building above Gracie’s. She’ll be selling Italian ski wear at discount prices.

In the Aspen Square Hotel building, the space formerly occupied by Testosterone, selling gifts and accessories for men, is empty. Elsewhere in the building, though, MAX is opening, offering women’s apparel and accessories. MAX also has stores in Denver and Boulder.

Elsewhere, the space once occupied by Zo’s Sports Bar and Grill remains vacant on Hyman Avenue. Next door, the Huntsman Gallery has moved out of its old location and onto the Hyman Avenue mall, in the space once occupied by the Aspen Fine Art Gallery, which now operates a couple of doors down on the mall.

The World Link Cafe has left Hyman Avenue for the former Durant Street Video space near the Grog Shop; the Isberian Rug Co. is expanding into the vacated cafe space.

On Cooper Avenue, the Aspen Luggage Co. has moved around the corner to a second-floor spot at 407 S. Hunter St., and Joan Boyce Jewelry has claimed its Cooper Avenue space. Next door on Cooper, Meridian Jewelers is in the former Hyde Park space.

Aspen Jewelry Co. has taken over the former Columbine jewelry shop on the Hyman Avenue mall, and Aspen Inside, featuring gifts, decor and things for kids, has opened next to the MotherLode on Hyman.

Watch for Salon Tullio at the former Geraniums ’n’ Sunshine space on Main Street, Kruger advised.

On the restaurant scene, The Wild Fig is coming to the former Caffe Torino space across Hyman from the Wheeler Opera House, and the new Golden Horn will replace Cabo’s in the basement quarters where the legendary Golden Horn once operated.

[Janet Urquhart’s e-mail address is janet@aspentimes.com]