You’ve heard all the bad news: The economy is in the tank, unemployment numbers are stubbornly high, no one’s buying anything anymore.

Except, it appears, cheese.

“We’ve seen a steady 10 percent rise in sales every year for 10 years,” said Hugh O’Neill, proprietor of St. Kilian’s, a small storefront cheese shop in north Denver. “Business is brisk.”

Rob Lawler has seen a similar boom at The Truffle, the busy Denver cheese shop he owns with his wife, Karin. “We’re up 4.6 percent this year,” he said. “Last year it was like 7 percent.”

In a slow economy, cheese may be retail’s killer app.

Coral Ferguson and Will Frischkorn found a similarly eager market for their new cheese shop and specialty grocer, Cured, which opened on Boulder’s Pearl Street in August.

“People are saying, ‘Oh wow, we really needed this,’ ” Ferguson said. “And it’s not just the high-end Boulder consumer. We’re seeing graduate students, military personnel, families with kids. All walks of life love cheese. It’s a contagious passion.”

Ferguson credits not just a hunger for cheese, but a focus on personal service — the kind you can’t find at a typical grocery store — for Cured’s early success. She and Frischkorn were inspired by several years spent living in Spain, where Frischkorn was a professional cyclist.

“We loved the little shops where the product was out there for you to taste and feel and smell,” she said. “There was a personal connection, an experience.” Those deep relationships with shopkeepers, Ferguson says, kept loyal customers coming back.

She hopes to forge a similar connection with her customers, though she admits giving patient attention can be a challenge. “It’s the beauty and the hard part of our business. When it’s busy it gets really difficult.”

Lawler takes a similar tack with service his shop. “We try hard to make the service component personal and appealing,” he said. “People come back.”

Establishing a presence on social networks like Twitter and Facebook has contributed to The Truffle’s continued growth. Karin Lawler frequently shares electronic information about new cheeses, store-sponsored classes, shop news and specials, and customers respond. “We get about 40 new followers a week,” she said.

Rob Lawler also credits another, less likely source for the surge in cheese’s popularity: grocery stores. “A few years ago, no one knew what manchego was,” he said. “Now, it’s pretty commonplace in grocery stores. The exposure makes people more adventurous.” And as tastes become more refined, customers appear more more likely to visit specialty shops.

O’Neill concurs. “People seem a lot less cautious these last few years. They’re willing to try anything,” he said. What’s more, they have opinions on a range of cheeses, and not just cheddar or jack. “Now goat cheese — there’s a strange one. Some love it, some hate it. Some look at it with fear and loathing and take three steps backwards, which is unfortunate because our shop is tiny.”

Some of the hottest cheeses in O’Neill’s display are produced in Colorado. “The goat cheese … made by Avalanche (a cheese producer in Basalt) is as good as anything we get from Europe,” he said.

Lawler pegs the sheep-milk ricotta from Fruition Farms in Larkspur as a local favorite. “Sheep and goats tend to do better here,” he said, citing Colorado’s arid climate. “They’re hardy animals.”

Ferguson adds the gouda-style cheese from Durango’s James Ranch to her hot list. “We sort of use our gut,” she said, when explaining how she and Frischkorn decide what to stock. “We make sure we have a range of soft and hard cheeses. We do a lot of research and tasting. And if one thing is selling, we order more of that. Right now, people are loving the soft cream cheeses.”

For Ferguson, the time for Cured was just right. “I don’t think this would have worked 10 years ago.”

Tucker Shaw: 303-954-1958, tshaw@denverpost.com, twitter.com/tucker_shaw

October is American Cheese Month

The American Cheese Society, based in Denver, is spearheading the first-ever American Cheese Month to highlight the burgeoning domestic cheese market. The society, which boasts 1,500 members (mostly cheesemakers, retailers, distributors, chefs and educators), was founded in 1983. For more information, visit americancheesemonth.org.

Storing Cheese

Keep it loose

Cheese needs to breathe. Wrap it loosely with foil or wax paper and refrigerate in a large, airtight plastic container that’s bigger than the cheese. Pop the container every day to refresh the air. Better yet, eat it.

Cool, not cold

Store cheese at about 40 degrees, which is refrigerator temperature. Never freeze it. Most cheeses taste better at room temperature, so pull it out of the icebox a half hour or so before serving it.

Hard cheeses are hardier

In general, the harder the cheese, the longer you can keep it. Hard cheeses like Parmesan will last several weeks. (If it appears dried out, trim off the tough edges.) Medium-hard cheeses like cheddar are at their best for a week or so. Fresh cheeses like mozzarella should be eaten as soon as possible.

Know your molds

In blue cheeses like Roquefort or Stilton, mold is OK. (It’s the whole point.) On other cheeses (cheddar, gouda, etc), cut away the mold before serving. Red mold never is good.

Doubts? Toss it

Trust your instincts. If the cheese looks or feels significantly different from when you bought it, throw it away.

Denver-area cheese shops — a small sampling

Cured 1825 B. Pearl St., Boulder, 720-389-8096, curedboulder.com

The Truffle 2906 E. Sixth Ave., Denver, 303-322-7363, denvertruffle.com

St. Kilian’s 3211 Lowell Blvd., Denver, 303-477-0374, stkilianscheeseshop.com

Cheese Importers Retail location: 33 South Pratt Parkway, Longmont, 303-772-9599, cheeseimporters.com

The Cheese Co. 5575 E. Third Ave., Denver, 303-394-9911, cheesecompanydeli.com