By Bob Keane C
olfax Avenue is a 26-mile long artery running through the heart of Denver and serving as its primary east-west travel corridor. The Denver Mint - where all those quarters stamped with a “D” under the motto, “In God We Trust,” were made - is located along Colfax Avenue, as is the state capitol. So is Argonaut Liquors, which as a business dates back to the period immediately following Repeal, and is now housed in its third location along the busy street. “Argonaut is a family-owned, family-run business that tries to focus on giving the consumer great prices and a great shopping environment,” explained co-owner and COO Ron Vaughn. He is part of the third genera- tion of the current ownership of what he calls a Denver landmark, which dates back to the 1960s, when his father-in-law, Hank Robinson, bought half of the busi- ness. Three years later, Hank was joined by his brother, Jack, and father, Lewis, who purchased the remaining 50% of the business.
Jack Robinson passed away in 2001, but Hank, at the age of 89 still comes in to the store every day, although he’s ceded control of day-to-day operations to Vaughn.
Argonaut Liquors co-owner and COO Ron Vaughn. PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY LAZLO
“It was a small mom-and-pop store,” Vaughn noted. “They had a counter where the staff went and pulled people’s orders and brought them to the counter.” By the mid-’70s, that kind of a retailing environment would no longer fly, so the Robinsons built a new 20,000 sq. ft. store right behind the original location. Some 30 years later that location was starting to show its age and was no longer adequate for the store’s ever-increasing vol- ume, and so two years ago Argonaut moved into a new 40,000 sq. ft. store very much in keeping with the city’s emphasis on urban renewal in the surrounding area. “Our customer demographics have begun to skew toward young couples and single women and part of that is the redevelopment in this whole area,” Vaughn said. “We’re seven blocks from the capitol, which puts us pretty close to downtown and that presents its own chal- lenges.” The city, Vaughn said, has done a really good job of aiding in the renewal and development of the sur- rounding area, particularly with townhouses and apart- ments. “That’s kind of helped my business,” Vaughn said. Indeed, 2009 was Argonaut’s best revenue year ever, and the store beat those numbers in 2010.”
Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • March/April 2011 • 21
